- Hydro One crews, dispatchers, call centre and support staff coordinate large scale storm response effort, setting a new company record for restoration work -
TORONTO, April 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Hydro One employees worked tirelessly to restore power to approximately 500,000 customers affected by the major storm system that began on April 14. The system moved across Ontario from Windsor to the Quebec border and brought rain, ice accumulation of up to 30 mm, snow and significant wind gusts as strong as 100 km/hr in some areas. The efforts of employees from across the company resulted in a new record for Hydro One, restoring power in four days. This surpassed the previous six day restoration effort from the last, large scale March 2016 ice storm that earned Hydro One recognition from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).
"What makes the efforts from this past event stand out is the volume of customers and facilities affected, both on our distribution and transmission systems, and how critical advanced planning accelerated our ability to turn the lights back on for our customers," said Greg Kiraly, Chief Operating Officer, Hydro One. "Storm response is something our employees are trained and prepared for at all times and we continue to improve our weather tracking and outage prediction capabilities allowing for a more coordinated restoration effort."
Before the storm hit, Hydro One tracked the weather system and positioned crews in key areas in the predicted path of the storm. Once the weather system began, more than 1,400 front-line staff mobilized efforts to restore power quickly to customers. As the weather persisted and travelled across the province customer calls increased and in total the agents and systems at Hydro One's Customer Contact Centre handled more than 147,000 customer calls. Proactive communication through live media interviews, social media, and Hydro One's website kept the public and customers up-to-date on the progress of restoration activities.
"Our employees were working around the clock, in adverse weather conditions and away from their own families to coordinate these efforts" said Brad Bowness, VP of Distribution, Hydro One. "Not only did they do this in record time, they accomplished all restoration activities safely, with no serious incidents or injuries, allowing everyone to make it home at the end of the day."
Hydro One power line and forestry crews were supported by five local utilities who answered Hydro One's call to provide mutual assistance support. As of April 18, power was back on for all customers and Hydro One resumed normal operations.
About Hydro One Inc.:
Hydro One Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of Hydro One Limited, Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with more than 1.3 million valued customers, $25 billion in assets and 2017 annual revenues of nearly $6 billion. Our team of over 7,400 skilled and dedicated regular and non-regular employees proudly and safely serves suburban, rural and remote communities across Ontario through our 30,000 circuit km of high-voltage transmission and 123,000 circuit km of primary distribution networks. Hydro One is committed to the communities we serve, and has been rated as the top utility in Canada for its corporate citizenship, sustainability, and diversity initiatives. We are one of only five utility companies in Canada to achieve the Sustainable Energy Company designation from the Canadian Electricity Association. We also provide advanced broadband telecommunications services on a wholesale basis utilizing our extensive fibre optic network. Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: H).
SOURCE Hydro One Inc.
