Newsroom

    TORONTO, Jan. 10 /CNW/ - Hydro One crews working to restore electricity
to communities affected by yesterday's wind storm have returned power to
95,000 customers; across the province, 45,000 are still without power.
    Severe winds gusting up to 100 km/hr that moved across parts of the
province yesterday knocked out power to 140,000 customers in communities
throughout southern and eastern Ontario.
    Early Thursday morning, the Company mounted a large-scale restoration
effort, dispatching more than 1,100 Hydro One employees, including foresters,
line maintainers, technicians and engineers to repair the damage caused by the
severe winter wind storm. Five helicopters were deployed to conduct important
aerial surveillance work and to assist with system repairs. The Company has
also secured additional support from a number of local utilities.
    While the work effort underway today saw significant gains in power
restoration, some communities in harder hit areas continue to experience
significant outages. The Company will continue to redeploy work crews as they
become available to focus on parts of the Province that are still without
power.
    Hydro One is monitoring a potential weather disturbance this evening that
could impact its ongoing repair and restoration effort in parts of the
Province. It is still expected that some customers in remote and hard to reach
places could remain without power into the weekend.The most impacted areas include:

    ---------------------------------------------
    Areas Most Impacted      Number of Hydro One
                              Customers Affected
    ---------------------------------------------
    Bracebridge                           11,100
    ---------------------------------------------
    Parry Sound                            2,400
    ---------------------------------------------
    Penetang                               3,400
    ---------------------------------------------
    Huntsville                            11,000
    ---------------------------------------------
    Minden                                 3,600
    ---------------------------------------------
    Tweed                                  1,100
    ---------------------------------------------
    Bancroft                              10,000
    ---------------------------------------------
    Perth                                    900
    ---------------------------------------------"As we complete power restoration work in communities, we free up workers
to move to different part of the province," said Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice
President, Customer Operations, Hydro One. "By doing so, we can zero in on the
most impacted areas and ensure we get power back to our customers as soon as
possible. Our customers have been remarkably understanding over the past 24
hours and we appreciate their support and patience."

    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 Province of Ontario.