**** NSP Media Release
Nova Scotia Power is activating its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at noon tomorrow (Thursday, February 6) in advance of a winter storm forecasted to bring mixed precipitation and icy conditions to the province.
Present forecasts are calling for snow then rain and freezing precipitation, beginning overnight Thursday and throughout the day Friday.
“We are keeping a close eye on this storm. With a prolonged period of mixed precipitation in the forecast, which can change with even minor temperature fluctuations, we are making preparations accordingly,” said Matt Drover, Storm Lead for Nova Scotia Power. “We’re staffing up our Customer Care Centre and moving crews into position throughout the province to ensure we can respond as needed for our customers.”
The Emergency Operations Centre is the nerve centre for outage restoration planning and response. It is staffed with employees representing all aspects of the company. This team will be in communication and coordinating closely with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office.
Restoration Priorities
If outages occur, crews will restore power as soon as conditions are safe. In situations where there are multiple power outages, Nova Scotia Power restores power in phases to ensure critical services like hospitals can stay open before beginning work in other areas. Larger outages on transmission lines and in substations are restored ahead of smaller outages to restore electricity to the greatest number of customers.
Customer Safety
Nova Scotia Power encourages customers to plan for their safety. Some tips include:
- Monitoring local weather forecasts.
- Having an emergency kit that includes flashlights, a battery-powered radio and fresh water.
- Charging electronic devices.
- If you lose power, turn off and unplug electrical equipment, such as televisions and computers to prevent damage when power is restored.
- Visit www.nspower.ca/stormready for a full list of safety and storm preparedness tips.
Outage Information
Customers can report outages and get estimated times of restoration (ETRs) online at outagemap.nspower.ca or by calling Nova Scotia Power at 1-877-428-6004. Initial ETRs are based on past storms of similar size; we update ETRs once our teams have assessed damage.
