Newsroom

    TORONTO, Jan. 30 /CNW/ - Snow and high winds gusting above 90 km/hr that
moved across parts of the province overnight knocked out power to
approximately 90,000 Hydro One Customers. Hydro One has now restored power to
approximately 70,000 customers; leaving approximately 20,000 customers without
power across the province at about 4:00 pm today.
    With the weather picture improving for much of the province, the company
expects to have the majority of its remaining customers' power restored
tonight. Customers in the Manitoulin and North Bay areas, could remain without
power until tomorrow as a result of ongoing poor weather and closed roads. The
company continues to work cooperatively with the Ontario Provincial Police to
allow crews to gain access to roads closed due to treacherous conditions.The most impacted areas include:
    -------------------------------------------------
    Areas Most Impacted          Number of Hydro One
                                  Customers Affected
    -------------------------------------------------
    Walkerton                                  1,800
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    Bracebridge                                1,450
    -------------------------------------------------
    Bowmanville                                2,100
    -------------------------------------------------
    Parry Sound                                  900
    -------------------------------------------------
    Penetang                                   2,500
    -------------------------------------------------
    Nipissing                                  5,600
    -------------------------------------------------
    Manitoulin                                 2,300
    -------------------------------------------------
    Timmins                                      650
    -------------------------------------------------
    Huntsville                                 3,200
    -------------------------------------------------
    Peterborough                                 650
    -------------------------------------------------
    Trenton                                    1,150
    -------------------------------------------------
    Bancroft                                     800
    -------------------------------------------------
    Cobden                                       650
    -------------------------------------------------"Our crews have made great progress today returning power to almost 80%
of the people that were affected by this most recent winter storm," said
Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations, Hydro One. "Our
challenge now is getting our people into those hard to get to places so we can
get our customers back online as quickly and safely as possible."

    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.