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New storm hampers power restoration progress in Georgian Bay Region

September 27, 2006 — A new storm with extremely high winds, driving rain, hail and lightning is hampering progress of Hydro One crews restoring power to customers in the Georgian Bay/Parry Sound/Muskoka region.

The storm is inflicting new damage to the power delivery system, and forcing crews to stop work during unsafe conditions with lightning and high winds. For example, helicopters were grounded and boats were pulled from lakes due to high waves. These activities will resume as soon as the storm passes.

This afternoon, less than 11,000 customers still remain out of power, down from about 100,000 following last Sunday's severe wind storm.

Almost 700 Hydro One lines, forestry and support staff, helicopters and hundreds of heavy vehicles are deployed throughout the Bracebridge, Huntsville, Parry Sound and Penetang areas to expedite restoration. Workers have replaced hundreds of broken poles, cross-arms and kilometres of downed conductor, and cleared thousands of trees and limbs off power lines.

Depending on impacts of the most recent storm Hydro One now expects that some customers in more remote, difficult-to-access locations such as islands could be out of power until Friday.

"Our crews are doing all they can to get the lights back on," said Len McMillan, Director, Provincial Lines. "Unfortunately Mother Nature is not helping, however we will restore service as soon as we possibly can."

Hydro One strongly urges 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 precaution 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 1.3 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Province of Ontario.

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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.