Saturday’s storm left a trail of destruction across southern, central and eastern Ontario, with
additional damage still being discovered by the hour by Hydro One crews. Carleton Place was one
of the many regions hit by extensive damage to electricity infrastructure, resulting in over 40
downed and damaged poles. Crew members on the ground who have worked with Hydro One for decades
described the event as one of the most destructive storms in recent memory. Regional Line
Maintainer Dave Phillips originally installed this stretch of power lines in 1989 and completed
repairs to the section yesterday evening.
"The extent of damage on the ground ranks at the top of my list, with poles snapped in half and
countless power lines and trees thrown to the ground," said Dave Phillips, Hydro One Regional
Line Maintainer. "Through this total team effort, what originally took us months to build in
1989, we were able to complete in days. We greatly appreciate our customers’ patience during
this time."
One of the many poles snapped in half in Carleton Place
To rebuild the entire stretch of power lines, Hydro One crews mobilized quickly and sourced the
equipment and machinery to get the job done and restore power to customers. A team of 40 line
maintainers from the eastern region used cranes, bucket trucks and off-road equipment to repair
three kilometres of power lines and get the lights back to approximately 10,000 customers in the
region last night. With these repairs now complete, crews are now working to restore power to
remaining customers in the region.
Jason Fitzsimmons, Chief Customer Care and Corporate Affairs Officer at Hydro One,
meets with crew members who originally installed this section of power lines in 1989 and
rebuilt the line in days.
