Nova Scotia Power Crews Responding to Latest Wind Storm
Nova Scotia Power crews continue to work to restore power to customers affected by the high winds that have been sweeping across our province over the last 24 hours.
“With holiday gatherings and meals in the works, we understand just how inconvenient these outages are,” said Sean Borden, NS Power Storm Lead. “We have over 300 people in the field and hundreds more working behind the scenes to get our customers’ power back on as safely and as quickly as possible.”
Winds reached more than 115 km an hour in parts of the province. This has caused trees to come into contact with power lines causing outages. Approximately 104,000 NS Power customers lost service. As of 6am, crews have restored power to 75% and they continue to work to restore power to the remaining customers.
There have been outages right across Nova Scotia with about 41,000 in the northeast region, nearly 36,000 in the Halifax area, more than 22,000 in the western region and 5,000 in Cape Breton. As crews finish up in one area, they are moving to other communities to support restoration efforts. This storm has impacted a large geographic area, causing significant outages as far west as Ontario and into New England.
“We know it’s especially tough to lose power during the holidays and we want to reassure customers we are doing everything we can to get their lights back on as safely and quickly as possible,” said Borden. “We’d also like to thank our employees, contractors in the field and those behind the scenes who are working to safely restore power to our customers this holiday weekend.”
Nova Scotia Power activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Friday morning ahead of the storm. The EOC provides a central place to coordinate restoration and response planning and work closely with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office (EMO). The EOC is staffed with employees from all parts of the company.
Customers can report outages and get estimated restoration times online at outagemap.nspower.ca or by calling 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