Hundreds of thousands of Hydro One customers still without power after massive storm slams Ontario

This past weekend, a major winter storm system hammered the Canadian province of Ontario, impacting nearly 1 million customers across Hydro One territory. Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario’s largest electricity transmission and distribution provider, boasting approximately 1.5 million customers, meaning roughly two-thirds felt the brunt of the storm. The utility says the damage is “the most devastating and widespread” since the Great Ice Storm of 1998.

Since the start of the storm on March 28 at about 11 pm ET, Hydro One estimates crews have restored power to more than 83% of customers, up from 80% as of Wednesday night, when about 192,000 were still in the dark. However, significant damage continues to be discovered as crews continue restoration. To date, at least 1,707 broken poles have been identified, and more than 1,100 have been replaced. Due to the nature of this storm, damage accumulated on power equipment over several days, and on some lines, crews have identified multiple types of repair work that need to be handled before power can be restored.

More than 115,000 customers in neighboring Michigan are still without power, down from more than 300,000 a few days ago. In some areas, particularly in rural northern Michigan, entire communities have been without electricity since Saturday.

Wednesday’s high winds, freezing rain, and thunderstorms made matters worse, affecting 9,000 Hydro One customers in southwest Ontario and another 21,000 in the central part of the province. The utility notes this most recent system also slowed restoration efforts and grounded helicopters. Today’s weather seems like it will cooperate, though, allowing restoration work to resume as planned. Hydro One anticipates having as many as four helicopters providing air support once the fog in the region dissipates.

As crews finish restoration in areas, they are being redeployed to support the hardest hit areas, which are Peterborough and the surrounding area, Orillia and the surrounding area, and Fenelon Falls.

Restoration in the hardest hit areas will continue in the coming days, according to Hydro One, which expects to have most customers back online by the weekend. In remote areas, particularly for customers who can only be reached by water, restoration may take longer. Road access continues to be a challenge in the most impacted areas, along with safety concerns of tree branches and limbs coming down.

Hydro One recommends that its customers turn off their stoves or any elements that may have been in use when the power went out. Since some areas are starting to be affected by flooding, customers should call 1-800-434-1235 to have power safely turned off if water starts to reach electrical outlets, baseboard heaters, or a furnace. Do not enter any flooded areas, such as the basement, until power is disconnected.

Outages as of Thursday morning

Hydro One notes that the areas listed above do not align with conventional municipal boundaries since they are broken down by the utility’s operations centres.

Sending in Support

Hydro One is a member of the Ontario Mutual Assistance Group (OnMAG). OnMAG offers emergency coordination and best-practice sharing between the member Ontario electrical utility companies to bolster capabilities within the province.

Hydro One made a formal request for storm assistance through OnMAG and accepted Toronto Hydro’s storm assistance proposal, which will support restoration efforts in central and eastern Ontario by lending over 70 members of the Toronto Hydro skilled worker community.

“This weekend’s ice storm heavily impacted our neighbours in eastern and central Ontario, and we’re proud to offer our skilled workers to support power restoration efforts. Our crews are assisting Hydro One in restoring service to Ontarians as quickly as possible,” said Lauren Harris of Toronto Hydro.

Ontario’s chief utility and its subsidiary anticipate additional resources joining restoration efforts Thursday through OnMAG agreements, bringing its total to 3,800 Hydro One team members, contractors, and other resources on the ground. At least 18 Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) are providing mutual assistance, including: Alectra, Bluewater Power, CNP Fort Erie, Enwin, Entergus, Epcor, Essex Power, ERTH, Grand Bridge Energy, Hydro Ottawa, Kingston PUC, Lakefront Utilities, London Hydro, Milton Hydro, Niagara Peninsula Energy, Oshawa PUC, Renfrew Hydro, and Toronto Hydro.