Nova Scotia Power to Activate Emergency Operations Centre

Nova Scotia Power is opening its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at 10am Friday (December 23) to support response efforts ahead of the pending storm.

NS Power is preparing for high winds and heavy rain across Nova Scotia, beginning in the western part of the province Friday afternoon and moving into Cape Breton overnight and into Saturday morning. This storm is part of the same system expected to affect most of eastern Canada and northeastern US. The size of this weather system and the number of utilities being impacted is more significant than previous storms and restoration efforts are already underway in the northeast US.

"No one wants to lose their power, especially heading into the holidays," said Sean Borden, NS Power Storm Lead. "We have been monitoring the forecasts for several days and are positioning crews across the province so we can respond as safely and quickly as possible. We will do everything we can to try to ensure the least amount of disruption to customers’ holiday plans."

The EOC is staffed with employees from all parts of the company and provides a central place to coordinate planning for outage restoration and response. Nova Scotia Power is also working closely with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office.

“Based on the current forecast, we expect this storm to cause power outages across the province.” Borden said. “We are taking every precaution to ensure we are ready to respond.”

Customers are encouraged to watch the outage map for the latest updates and estimated time of restoration.   If customers don’t see their outage on the map – please report it online at outagemap.nspower.ca or call 1-877-428-6004.

 QUICK FACTS: Wind Storms

• High winds can cause power lines to come down due to trees or branches falling on lines.
• The impact can vary depending on how fast the weather system moves across a region/province and the strength of the wind and how long it lasts.
• High winds can slow restoration efforts as crews will stand down when winds reach 80km/hour until it is safe to go back up in the buckets.

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About Nova Scotia Power
Nova Scotia Power Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emera Inc. (TSX-EMA), a diversified energy and services company. Nova Scotia Power provides 95% of the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power to approximately 540,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across Nova Scotia. The company is focused on new technologies to enhance customer service and reliability, reduce emissions and add renewable energy. Nova Scotia Power has over 2000 employees and $4.5 billion in operating assets. Learn more at www.nspower.ca.

Media Contact:

Jacqueline Foster

NSP Senior Communications Advisor

902-225-4735 or Jacqueline.foster@nspower.ca