Uodate: Nova Scotia Power crews continued to work safely throughout the night restoring power to customers
affected by a storm that brought heavy, wet snow and high winds to parts of the province yesterday. As of 6 a.m. today,
approximately 14,000 customers remain without power.
“Restorations have been particularly challenging in the northeastern area of the province where crews have been
dealing with trees contacting power lines and downed wires,” said Sean Borden, Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead. “We
will be updating estimated restoration times throughout the day as crews are able to safely access outage locations and
assess damage and required repairs.”
Nova Scotia Power has more than 500 people dedicated to storm response today, including power line technicians,
damage assessment teams, tree crews, and other frontline workers, plus a full complement of people working behind
the scenes to serve our customers.
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Nova Scotia Power has restored electricity to more than 200,000 customers since noon today.
“While we never want outages to happen, the electrical grid today performed the way it was designed to,” said Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead Matt Drover.
When heavy snow and ice build-up caused outages this morning on the bulk-power transmission lines that link Cape
Breton to mainland Nova Scotia, protective devices triggered to protect the grid from damage that would be more difficult to repair, and to keep as many customers as possible online while the transmission issues were corrected.
Similar protective devices triggered when a transmission outage occurred in Memramcook, New Brunswick. This shut
down the transmission interconnection that links our two provinces.
“This rapid restoration of power to customers this afternoon has been the result of those protection devices, which
protected our grid from greater damage – and our customers from longer outages,” Drover said.
Nova Scotia Power crews still have a lot of tough work ahead, in tough conditions, as they work to repair localized storm damage in communities across Nova Scotia. In some communities, road conditions are still treacherous, and crews are dealing with high wind gusts and continuing snowfall. They are working to safely restore power as quickly as possible.
“Our crews will keep working, and our Emergency Operations Centre will remain activated, until all customers impacted by this storm are restored,” Drover said.
As Nova Scotia Power continues to restore power, we would encourage customers to unplug their electrical devices to protect against potential damage when your power is restored. Even power bars should be unplugged, in case the built-in surge protection is no longer functional.
Nova Scotia Power is also proactively coordinating with electrical inspectors to streamline the repair process for
customers who may incur damage to their meter mast because of the storm. If a customer’s electrical equipment
becomes damaged, customers need a certified electrician to make repairs before Nova Scotia Power can safely restore power.
Customer safety is imperative. If you see a downed wire, please stay away and report it to us at 1-877-428-6004. If you
are concerned about an immediate public or personal safety risk, please call 911. Customers can get up to date
information on estimated restoration times at outagemap.nspower.ca or by phoning 1-877-428-6004.
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Source : Media Release
