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Hydro One provides 3:30 p.m. update on power restoration progress

February 8, 2006 - 3:30 p.m. - Hydro One reports that it has now restored power to 96,800 of the approximately 100,000 customers who lost electricity as a result of severe storm conditions that have affected Georgian Bay and southwestern Ontario since Saturday.

Heavy snow fall and high winds associated with the storm caused substantial damage to lines, poles and other equipment over the weekend. Sustained poor weather over the past four days slowed down restoration in efforts in a number of communities.

Improved weather conditions have now allowed Hydro One to deploy helicopters to further assess damage and roads are now clear. Crews are being redeployed from restored areas to the hardest hit parts of the province, particularly Owen Sound and Walkerton.

The vast majority of customers should have power restored by 10 p.m. tonight.

Hydro One thanks all of its customers for their continued patience.

For the most recent information on power outages go to www.HydroOneNetworks.com. The public is advised to stay away from downed power lines and from trees that are in contact with power lines. Customers who are using generators are reminded to open the main breaker on their own panel to avoid backfeed out through their service and into our transformers. This is a significant safety hazard for our crews.

Hydro One owns and operates Ontario's 28,400 kilometre high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 122,000 kilometre low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.2 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Ontario Government.

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For more information and to make arrangements for photography, contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868. Our Web site is www.HydroOne.com.