Ontario Utilities Report 380,000 Outages; Restoration Efforts Ongoing

TORONTO, Dec. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - The Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) has this morning canvassed its membership - which encompasses all local electricity distributors across the province - to better determine the scope of current customer impacts resulting from the weekend ice storm.

The data compiled thus far from various sources confirms impacts largely restricted to the Greater Toronto Area and some immediately surrounding regions, with a total of approximately 380,000 customers without power. This is down from well over 600,000 at the peak.

Local electric utilities have reported the approximate number of outages shown below as of mid-day Monday. Areas not listed are reporting minimal or no impact, or were not immediately reachable. All numbers are approximate and are changing frequently.

Cambridge & North Dumfries Hydro Inc.	1,000
Canadian Niagara Power Inc. (Fort Erie, Port Colborne)	1,000
Centre Wellington Hydro Ltd.	40
Enersource Hydro Mississauga Inc.	750
Guelph Hydro Electric	50
Haldimand County Hydro Inc.	50
Horizon Utilities Corporation (Hamilton, St. Catherines)	1,500
Hydro One Networks (serving primarily rural areas)	110,000
Hydro One  Brampton Networks	3,500
Kingston Electricity Distribution	150
Milton Hydro Dist. Inc.	1,000
Niagara Peninsula Energy Inc.	40
Oakville Hydro Electricity Distribution Inc.	200
Oshawa PUC Networks	4,000
Powerstream Inc. (York Region)	16,300
Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited	219,000
Veridian Connections Inc. (Eastern GTA)	18,900
Waterloo North Hydro Inc.	200
Welland Hydro-Electric System Corp.	50
Whitby Hydro Electric Corp.	400

"Many customers are still impacted, with by far the largest number being in the GTA. But our members are also reporting significant progress in reducing the scope of outages from peak levels over the weekend," says EDA President and CEO Charlie Macaluso. "Credit for this is due to remarkable efforts on the part of utility workers who have been on duty around the clock throughout the impacted areas."

As is typical under such circumstances, EDA members are providing mutual assistance to make the quickest restoration of services possible. This involves the dispatch of crews from less-impacted to more-impacted utilities.

"We know of course that the question people most want answered is 'when will my power be back on,'" says Macaluso. "Our members are getting more customers reconnected to the grid hour-by-hour. But with a storm as severe as this one, restoration times will vary across regions, and even within the service territory of individual utilities. The reality for some customers is likely to be a few days without power."

Barring further storm impacts, greater than 95 per cent of all Ontario customers are expected to have power for Christmas. In the meantime, EDA joins its members in urging everyone in the impacted regions to exercise great caution around downed wires, and to extend any assistance they can to friends, family and neighbours who may be coping with continued outages during this holiday season.

About the EDA
The Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) is the voice of Ontario's 75 local electricity distributors, the publicly and privately owned companies that deliver electricity to over 4.8 million Ontario homes, businesses and public institutions.

Image with caption: "Electricity Distributors Association (CNW Group/Electricity Distributors Association)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131223_C6542_PHOTO_EN_35241.jpg

SOURCE: Electricity Distributors Association

For more information please contact the EDA's Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Kevin Hanson, at [phone] / [phone].