Restoration efforts underway for customers
Halifax – Restoration efforts are in full force with more than 750 people in the field working to restore power for customers, including power line technicians, damage assessors and forestry workers. Approximately 110,000 customers lost power after sustained winds of over 80 km an hour battered many parts of the province for close to 12 hours beginning Monday morning.
“Crews have been working to safely restore power since the beginning of the storm through some very challenging winds,” said Matt Drover, NS Power Storm Lead. “We’ve had reports of those high winds uprooting trees, bringing trees and branches into power lines and breaking power poles,” said Drover.
Winds peaked at 112 km/hr in Cape Breton West – with gusts of 107 km/hr in the Annapolis Valley and the Northeast. Of the approximately 110,000 customers who lost power as a result of the storm, crews have restored service to about 50,000 of them as of 9am this morning (Tuesday).
“We understand how challenging it is to lose your power any time of year, let alone in the days leading up to the holidays,” said Drover. “We want to assure our customers that our team is working safely and as quickly as possible to get the lights back on.”
With wind over 80km an hour lasting several hours, crews had to wait until it was safe to go up in the buckets. These conditions can also cause damage to meter masts on a customers’ home. If this happens, customers will need to get a certified electrician to make repairs before NS Power can safely restore their power.
Customers are encouraged to keep an eye on the NS Power outage map at http://outagemap.nspower.ca for the latest information and estimated restoration times.
QUICK FACTS:
- High winds can cause power lines to come down due to trees or branches falling on lines. The impact varies depending on the strength of the wind and how fast the system moves across a region/province.
- The average number of hours of wind gusts over 80km an hour in the last five years – is up 54% from the five years before that.
- If you see downed wires, please don’t try to move them yourself. Stay back and call us to report it right away (1-877-428-6004).
- More information on restoration phases can be found at: http://nspower.ca/storm.
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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.
Contact:
Jacqueline Foster
NSP Senior Communications Advisor
Media Line: 902-233-6015