Newsroom

TORONTO, July 22, 2011 /CNW/ - Hydro One confirms that at 2:50 p.m. (central time) it restored power to communities that have been impacted by forest fires in northwestern Ontario.

Restoring power involved rebuilding parts of a power line that serves communities including Pickle Lake, and Slate Falls, Cat Lake, and Mishkeegogamang First Nations. Hydro One crews worked closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources to ensure the safety of all personnel responding to the outage.

The fires caused two extended power outages during the past 12 days.

The first outage was a result of fires that burnt more than 80 poles on the line. Hydro One rebuilt the sections of the line and restored power within three days after being given access to the impacted areas by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The forest fire caused a second outage on Sunday, July 17 and burned an additional 14 poles.  Hydro One mobilized 55 people and equipment to rebuild the section of line impacted by fires.  Fire activity throughout this week hampered workers' ability to undertake necessary repair work. Workers were given clearance to access the site on Thursday, July 21.  Power was restored a day and half after crews were given access.

"We are acutely aware of the impact these power outages have had on communities who are struggling to deal with the devastating effects of the forest fires," said Laura Formusa, President and CEO, Hydro One. "As soon as we were allowed access and able to get on the ground, our people worked tirelessly to rebuild the line."

For the most recent information on power outages customers can go to: www.HydroOne.com. Photos of the restoration effort are now available online at https://picasaweb.google.com/HydroOneNetworks

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.