Newsroom

    TORONTO, Jan. 9 /CNW/ - Severe winds gusting up to 100 km/hr that moved
across parts of the province earlier today have resulted in approximately
100,000 Hydro One Customers losing power.
    Hydro One crews have been mobilized and deployed to assess and repair the
damage resulting from the wind storm. Initial indications are that there are a
significant number of downed poles and trees on lines. With the cooperation of
the weather, the company expects to have most customers' power restored by
10:00 pm, however, some customers in the most impacted areas may remain
without power overnight.The most impacted areas include:
    --------------------------------------------
    Areas Most Impacted     Number of Hydro One
                             Customers Affected
    --------------------------------------------
    Strathroy                              1800
    --------------------------------------------
    Barrie                                 3900
    --------------------------------------------
    Bracebridge                            5000
    --------------------------------------------
    Orillia                                2000
    --------------------------------------------
    Owen Sound                             7900
    --------------------------------------------
    Parry Sound                            5000
    --------------------------------------------
    Penetang                               6000
    --------------------------------------------
    Kirkland Lake                          1900
    --------------------------------------------
    Huntsville                             4600
    --------------------------------------------
    Minden                                 5500
    --------------------------------------------
    Fenelon Falls                          1800
    --------------------------------------------
    Peterborough                           1400
    --------------------------------------------
    Tweed                                  2200
    --------------------------------------------
    Bancroft                               8500
    --------------------------------------------
    Cobden                                 3200
    --------------------------------------------
    Kingston                               1400
    --------------------------------------------
    Picton                                 2545
    --------------------------------------------
    New Liskeard                           5700
    --------------------------------------------
    Orangeville                            2200
    --------------------------------------------
    Winchester                             3900
    --------------------------------------------
    Brockville                             8900
    --------------------------------------------
    Arnprior                               1500
    --------------------------------------------
    Perth                                  3300
    --------------------------------------------"The wind has caused and is continuing to cause significant damage to the
electricity delivery system," said Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice President,
Customer Operations, Hydro One. "As always, we will deploy all available
resources to the restoration effort so that we can minimize, to the extent
possible, the impact of this recent outage on our customers. We thank our
customers for the patience and understanding they show us consistently during
these times."

    Important Safety Information

    Hydro One strongly urges people to take extra precaution near fallen
power lines. Even if a fallen wire seems dead, it can be dangerous. People are
urged to report to Hydro One the location of the fallen wires as soon as
possible. Touching a vehicle that is in contact with a power line can be
fatal.

    Restoring Power to Customers with Customer-Owned Equipment

    Hydro One advises customers that their privately-owned electrical
equipment may have sustained damage in this week's storm. If you know that
your customer-owned equipment is damaged, you will need to hire a qualified
electrical contractor to undertake necessary repair work who will then arrange
for the required ESA inspection and Hydro One reconnection to restore your
power.
    For the most recent information on power outages go to
    www.HydroOneNetworks.com.

    Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes
and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario's
28,000 kilometre high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity
to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 125,000 kilometre
low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end-use
customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly
owned by the Ontario Government.