Newsroom

TORONTO, April 30 /CNW/ - Hydro One confirms it has now restored power to more than 124,000 customers and is working to return service to the 51,000 customers who remain without power due to damage caused by Thursday's severe wind storm. Hydro One anticipates being able to restore power to the majority of affected customers by 10 p.m. Sunday.

"In the final stages of a restoration effort, we start to reach the point where one repair job restores one customer," said Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations. "We understand how much our customers value electricity and that they are anxious to have service restored. We will continue to dedicate all available resources to this effort until we have everyone's lights back on. We appreciate our customers' patience and support as we work to repair the storm damage."

Today, more than 1,100 Hydro One workers are deployed and four local utility companies are helping out: Peterborough Utilities Group, Veridian Power, Kingston Hydro Corporation, and Whitby Hydro Electric Corp.

Efforts are focused on removing trees from lines, repairing snapped power lines and replacing broken poles.

As power is restored in one area, crews are redeployed to zero-in on restoration efforts in harder-hit areas. Four helicopters continue to assist with the restoration effort, particularly in Peterborough, Tweed, Arnprior and Brockville.

Some of the major areas affected by power outages are listed below:

For the most recent information on power outages customers can go to: www.HydroOne.com. Follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/HydroOne.

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.

Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario's 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 123,000 km 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.