Hydro One is advising residents in Espanola and surrounding areas of two planned power outages on Sunday, May 30 required for crews to safely perform scheduled maintenance and complete upgrades in the area. For the safety of our crews, equipment must be de-energized to complete the work. To reduce service disruptions and the need for future outages, we are bundling our work as much as possible to enhance power reliability and replace aging infrastructure.
Outage #1
· When: A planned power outage will take place on Sunday, May 30 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and affect approximately 560 Hydro One customers and Espanola Regional Hydro customers in Espanola.
· What: Hydro One crews will perform scheduled maintenance and complete upgrades to ensure a safe and reliable supply of electricity. Crews will also install shield wire at our Espanola Transmission Station, which is an important component on transmission lines that helps to energize life by protecting equipment from lightning strikes and improving communication capabilities across the electricity system.
Outage #2
· When: A planned power outage will take place from 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. and affect approximately 1,200 Hydro One customers in Whitefish Falls, Whitefish River First Nation, McGregor Bay and east to Killarney.
· What: Hydro One crews will perform scheduled maintenance and complete upgrades to ensure a safe and reliable supply of electricity, including replacing a structure at our Birch Island Distribution Station.
We understand this is a challenging time to be without power and we would like to thank our customers for their patience during this time. Additional crews and equipment are being brought in to complete as much local area work as possible during this outage.
Below are some tips to help you and your family during an outage:
· Make sure your appliances, such as the stove, are in the off position.
· Make sure your cellphone and extended battery packs are fully charged.
· Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Use a cooler with ice for items you’ll need during the planned outage.
· Consider filling jugs of water to use for drinking and cooking.
· If you plan to use a generator, remember to use it in a dry area outdoors away from any open windows, doors and vents. Visit the Electrical Safety Authority at esasafe.com for more tips.
· If you have a bathtub, consider filling it with water before the planned outage begins. You can use the water and a bucket to fill your toilet tank to be able to flush.
In order to ensure our crews can continue working for all Ontarians, we ask that customers respect physical distancing.
Affected Hydro One customers have been notified via auto-dialer and can visit Hydro One’s outage map or call 1-888-664-9376 for more information. Affected Espanola Regional Hydro customers can call 1-705-869-2771.
