Archives

Power Restored to 130,000 customers - 20,000 Hydro One customers remain without power

August 6, 2006 — Hydro One confirms it has now restored power to 130,000 customers since the evening of Wednesday, August 2. Approximately 20,000 customers remained without power Sunday at midday. World Weather Watch confirmed a tornado touched down in West Gilford, Minden Hills, and Combermere on August 2.

Hydro One estimates that the work required to address the impact of severe, back-to-back summer storms is equal to the amount of system improvement work it would undertake in one year. The company will continue to treat emergency and storm restoration work as its highest priority. As a result, the company expects it will need to reschedule work for individual customers, including those requiring new power hook-ups.

"While we have made significant progress, as people arrived at their cottages this weekend we started to receive calls concerning previously unreported outages," said Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations, Hydro One. "We will continue to deploy all available province-wide resources plus outside utility help to deal with the aftermath of this most recent storm. In fact, we have more than 900 field staff from across the province and 11 helicopters working on power restoration in the most affected areas."

It is expected the majority of customers will have power restored by Sunday or Monday. However, remote or water-access properties may not have power until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Power restoration status in the most affected areas:

"We are pleased that people are heeding our warning about the dangers of downed power lines," said Myles D'Arcey, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations, Hydro One. "We continue to warn people to take extra precaution should they discover fallen power lines on their properties. Even if a fallen wire is not sparking, it may still be energized and dangerous. People are urged to report to Hydro One the location of the fallen wires as soon as possible."

Important Safety Information

Hydro One strongly urges people to take extra caution near fallen power lines. Even if a fallen wire seems dead, it can be dangerous. People are urged to report to Hydro One the location of the fallen wires as soon as possible. Touching a vehicle that is in contact with a power line can be fatal.

Restoring Power to Customers with Customer-Owned Equipment

Hydro One advises customers that their privately-owned electrical equipment may have sustained damage in this week's storm. If you know that your customer-owned equipment is damaged, you will need to hire a qualified electrical contractor to undertake necessary repair work who will then arrange for the required ESA inspection and Hydro One reconnection to restore your power.

For the most recent information on power outages go to www.HydroOneNetworks.com.

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.

-30-

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.