Power is back on for nearly 91 per cent of affected customers; the company anticipates nearly all remaining outages will be restored by Friday evening
TORONTO, May 26, 2022 /CNW/ - A team of more than 3,200 power workers, including resources from out-of-province utilities and contractors, have restored power to more than 652,000 customers affected by Saturday's devastating storm. Crews continue to work tirelessly through the widespread and significant damage to make repairs, rebuild local electricity infrastructure and restore power to the more than 61,000 Hydro One customers who are still without power.
The company anticipates power will be restored to 99 per cent of customers affected by the storm by Friday evening. Due to the severity of damage, some customers in rural, remote and island locations in the Perth and Bancroft areas that will be without power for several more days. In the Tweed area, a small number of customers may be without power for several more weeks due to the extraordinary level of damage.
"We understand this is an incredibly difficult time for our customers and we are doing everything we can to get the lights back on. Our dedicated crews continue to make excellent progress and will not stop until every single customer is restored," said Jason Fitzsimmons, Chief Customer Care and Corporate Affairs Officer, Hydro One. "We continue to work further into more challenging areas by boats and helicopters to rebuild the electricity system in isolated rural and remote communities."
Hydro One has seen a record 1,900 broken poles and the company is working closely with its suppliers to ensure crews have the necessary materials to make repairs.
"We also want to thank our suppliers who continue to ensure that our crews have the materials they need to rebuild the grid and get the lights back on in communities across the province, including Stella Jones, an Ontario supplier who is transporting hundreds of electricity poles across the province," said Fitzsimmons.
When rebuilding after a storm, Hydro One prioritizes restoration to bring power back to the greatest number of customers in the shortest period of time. Crews need to repair and rebuild main power lines along with other key pieces of infrastructure before repairs can be made to power lines that serve smaller numbers of customers.
It is critical to stay at least 10 metres back from a fallen power line, even if it does not appear to be live. Report it to the police and call Hydro One at 1-800-434-1235.
Customers can report and track the status of their outage using the company's outage tools, including its map and app, by texting WATTS (92887) or calling 1-800-434-1235.
Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with approximately 1.5 million valued customers, approximately $30.4 billion in assets as at December 31, 2021, and annual revenues in 2021 of approximately $7.2 billion.
Our team of approximately 9,300 skilled and dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities. In 2021, Hydro One invested approximately $2.1 billion in its transmission and distribution networks, and supported the economy through buying approximately $1.7 billion of goods and services.
We are committed to the communities where we live and work through community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. We are designated as a Sustainable Electricity Company by the Canadian Electricity Association.
Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the NYSE. Additional information can be accessed at www.hydroone.com, www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov.
Our website is www.HydroOne.com. Follow us on facebook.com/hydrooneofficial, twitter.com/hydroone and instagram.com/hydrooneofficial
SOURCE Hydro One Inc.
