Many Toronto Hydro customers restored after flooding

TORONTO, July 10, 2013 /CNW/ - Many customers had their power restored early this morning following a severe rain storm on Monday that knocked out electricity supply to Toronto. As at 5 a.m. today, 16,000 customers are without power.

An estimated 300,000 customers were affected at the height of the event. The main issue related to a lack of supply to these customers from Hydro One's Manby and Richview stations due to flooding. At the start, customers from as far north as Steeles Ave, west to Danforth Road, south to the lake and city limits in the east end were affected; some for as long as 36 hours. Customers served out of Richview Station were restored at approx. 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Manby Station remains out and is one of two main supply points into Toronto's downtown. When the station flooded, the outage cut supply to 17 hydro transformer stations fed by Manby in the east, south and midtown areas of the city. Those remaining without power now are in areas bounded by: 

Dundas Street South to Valermo Drive;
The West Mall East to Stephen Drive, and
Ormskirk Avenue south to The Queensway; 
South Kingsway East to Windermere Avenue.

Hydro One requested load shedding, or planned rotating outages, early Tuesday. Hydro One and Toronto Hydro worked together to reconfigure the local grid to shift customers normally supplied by Manby station to the only other supply point to the downtown: Leaside Station. This effort restored power to as many people as possible but created instability on the grid and the potential for additional outages and equipment overloading. Approximately 50,000 customers were impacted by these rotating outages through Tuesday.

Rotating outages stopped at midnight Wednesday as customer power use reduced. It may be necessary to re-start rotating outages as customers begin their workday Wednesday morning.

In the meantime, Toronto Hydro reminds customers that electricity conservation is crucial to improve the stability of the system. Here are some tips to help relieve stress on the grid:

• Turn off all non-essential lighting.
• Set air conditioner thermostats at 25°C and raise the setting even higher if you're not going to be home.
• Close curtains and blinds to keep out the hot summer sun.
• Cook outdoors on the barbeque or use a microwave oven.
• Save other heat-producing activities such as clothes drying and dishwashing for cooler evening hours.  Wait until 8 p.m.
• Businesses should keep their doors closed when air conditioners are running.
• Unplug any non-essential electronic devices - even when turned off, still draw power.
  
  

For more tips on how to conserve visit torontohydro.com/smartsummer

SOURCE: Toronto Hydro Corporation

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited
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