Newsroom

    TORONTO, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - Hydro One confirms it has now restored power to
145 thousand people who were impacted by Sunday's severe winter wind storm.
Currently, about 90 thousand Hydro One customers remain without power.
Sunday's storm saw winds of up to 100 kms per hour, resulting in toppled hydro
poles, downed lines and trees. At the peak of the storm on Sunday, more than
235,000 customers were without power.
    While the Company made significant progress today, a new weather system
in the Georgian Bay, Lake Erie and Huron areas resulted in many additional
outages and has delayed restoration times in parts of the province.
    Throughout the day, the Company increased its workforce to 1,300 people
from Hydro One and 22 local utilities. As crews restore power to specific
locations, they are being redeployed to assist with restoration efforts in
other communities. Ten helicopters continue to assist with the restoration
effort throughout the province.
    Hydro One expects most customers will have their power restored in the
next 24-48 hours; however, some customers in more remote access locations such
as islands could remain without power until January 1 or 2.
    "Our crews working in the field continue to report significant damage
resulting from yesterday's storm," said Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice President,
Customer Operations, Hydro One. "We are using every resource available to us,
whether it is people, snowmobiles, ATVs and helicopters, to get to places
inaccessible by roads so that we can restore power to our customers."
    Hydro One continues to seek the assistance of contractors and a number of
local utilities to assist with its restoration efforts. Currently, 22 local
utilities from across the province are providing support to Hydro One,
including: Middlesex Power, Erie Thames Powerlines, West Coast Huron Energy
Inc., Woodstock Hydro, Norfolk Power, Westario Power, Chatham-Kent Power,
Peterborough Utilities Group, Orangeville Hydro, Hydro One Brampton, Veridian
Power, Lakefront Power, Hydro Ottawa, Barrie Hydro, Parry Sound Hydro, North
Bay Hydro, Greater Sudbury Hydro, Powerstream, Ottawa River Power, Oshawa
Hydro, Lakeland Power and Newmarket - Tay Power Distribution Ltd.Areas Impacted/Hydro One Customers Affected

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    Areas Most Impacted               Number of Hydro One
                                       Customers Affected
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Orangeville                                       700
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Fenelon Falls                                   1,700
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Minden                                          3,200
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Peterborough                                    1,000
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Bancroft                                       13,500
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Cobden                                          5,000
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Kingston                                          800
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Tweed                                           5,000
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Arnprior                                        1,200
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Brockville                                        600
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Perth                                           1,300
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Barrie                                          1,400
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Bracebridge                                    10,700
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Huntsville                                     14,000
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Orillia                                           750
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Owen Sound                                      1,650
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Parry Sound                                    13,000
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Penetang                                        3,600
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Manitoulin                                      1,650
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Timmins                                           700
    -----------------------------------------------------
    North Bay                                       3,000
    -----------------------------------------------------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.
    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.