Newsroom

    TORONTO, Jan. 11 /CNW/ - Hydro One reports it is moving closer to having
power restored to its remaining customers affected by Wednesday's windstorm.
128,000 customers have had their power restored across the province, while
crews are working to restore power to the remaining 12,000 customers. The
majority of the remaining customers are expected to have power returned by the
end of the day.
    Severe winds gusting up to 100 km/hr that moved across parts of the
province Wednesday knocked out power to 140,000 customers in communities
throughout southern and eastern Ontario. Crews have now restored power to more
than 90% of affected customers.
    A new weather system involving freezing rain, snow and high winds in
parts of the province today hampered some restoration efforts and resulted in
some new outages. However, with a large labour force already in the field, the
Company expects the majority of remaining customers will be returned to
service tonight.
    It is still expected that some customers in hard to reach places such as
islands could remain without power into the weekend.
    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 support staff to repair the damage caused by
the severe winter wind storm. Five helicopters were deployed to the overall
effort and the Company also secured additional support from a number of local
utilities.
    The most impacted areas today include:-------------------------------------------
    Areas Most Impacted     Number of Hydro One
                             Customers Affected
    -------------------------------------------
    Bracebridge                           5,300
    -------------------------------------------
    Penetang                              1,500
    -------------------------------------------
    Huntsville                            1,300
    -------------------------------------------
    Minden                                1,200
    -------------------------------------------
    Bancroft                              1,250
    -------------------------------------------"We now have all our resources zeroing-in on those hard to reach and very
remote locations such as boat access properties and cottages," said Myles
D'Arcey, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations, Hydro One. "As is always
the case, all available crews will continue to attack repair work until every
customer is returned to service."

    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.