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Storm knocks out power for about 100,000 Hydro One customers

Toronto, November 13, 2003 - High winds reaching 100 kilometres an hour have knocked out power to about 100,000 Hydro One customers right across the southwest, central and eastern parts of Ontario this morning.

Restoration has been severely hampered by poor driving conditions and blowing snow that has substantially reduced visibility in some areas such as the southwest, Georgian Bay, Muskoka and Huronia. Substantial progress in restoring power is not expected until winds die down later today.

Trees and limbs falling into power lines caused much of the damage. In many cases power was restored only to be knocked out a short time later. There are reports of hundreds of poles down, many in difficult-to-access off-road locations.

Hydro One has mobilized all available lines and forestry crews and dispatched them to the hard hit areas.

The company's call centre has been experiencing an extremely high volume of calls.

To get power outage updates on Hydro One's distribution system, go to www.HydroOnenetworks.com.

Hydro One Networks owns and operates the province-wide electricity high voltage transmission network and largest low voltage distribution system in Ontario that serves over one million end-use customers. Hydro One is wholly-owned by the provincial government.

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For more information, contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868.