Toronto Hydro power restoration update

TORONTO, Dec. 29, 2013 /CNW/ - Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) reports that crews are making progress tonight.  There are now approximately 3,000 customers without service, and crews are being dispatched to these locations.  Work will continue through the night and tomorrow, and until all outages are addressed.

In addition, there are approximately 1,000 locations that have received Electrical Safety Authority approval following repairs to electrical stand pipes that were damaged in the storm. Toronto Hydro has been, and continues to, assign crews to attend to these locations. 

As expected, in this final stage, our equipment at many locations has experienced severe damage due to the ice storm, and therefore restoration is taking much longer than would normally be the case. Many of these homes are in neighbourhoods with rear-lot construction, where poles and powerlines are located in backyards. Crews cannot use bucket trucks to reach the damage, and must enter the yards on foot, carrying equipment and using ladders to climb poles and make repairs. This is time-consuming and hazardous, especially at night, and is delaying restoration for these customers.

Crews continue to focus on localized neighbourhoods, apartment buildings, condominiums and individual homes still without service.

Public and worker safety is Toronto Hydro's first priority and we urge the public to exercise extreme caution in power restoration locations.  Please keep a safe distance from crews working in the area (at least 15 feet) as tree limbs and ice continue to fall as a result of the warmer temperatures.

Customers are reminded that if Toronto Hydro is reporting that their neighbourhood has been restored when their home is still without power they should do the following:

• Check to see if your neighbours have power. If they don't, it is likely that more work is to be done on your street.
  
  
• If your home is the only house without electricity, check your electrical panel inside the home to see if the breakers are in the "on" position.
  
  
• Check outside to see if the electrical equipment on your home is damaged and the service wire is down.  If the wire is down, please stay back and contact a licensed ECRA/ESA electrical contractor. A list is available on Toronto Hydro's website at torontohydro.com/poweroutage
  
  
• If you have completed the above and your power is still out, please report your outage to 416-542-8000 to ensure that we are aware of it.

If you spot a downed wire, please stay back (at least 10 feet) and report it to Toronto Hydro's operations centre at 416-542-8000. For more information about household items to have on hand during a lengthy outage, please visit torontohydro.com/poweroutage

Electrical Safety Authority - esasafe.com
Twitter - twitter.com/torontohydro
Facebook - facebook.com/torontohydro
YouTube - youtube.com/torontohydro
Flickr - flickr.com/torontohydro

SOURCE: Toronto Hydro Corporation

Contact the Media Relations Hotline
Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited