Veridian updates its community power outage status report

AJAX, ON, Dec. 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Veridian continues to have approximately 7,000 customers without service due to the severe ice storm of last week. Service crews continue to work in all communities impacted by the storm.

Earlier today, Veridian reported that 24 line and tree trimming crews would be deployed today. Since that time, two additional contract line crews have been secured, raising the number of crews to 26. The largest group of crews has been deployed in Ajax due to the relatively large numbers of customers affected in that community. More resources will be re-deployed to this area as they become available.

Following is a list of the more significant known power outages as of 2 p.m. today:

Port Hope - More than 500 customers remain without power. The general areas of the power outages are as follow:

1. South of  Dorset St. E., north of Lake St., west of Rose Glen Rd S. and east of Hope St. S.
2. South of Highland Dr., north of Dorset St. W., west of Pine St. S. and east of Toronto Rd.
3. South of Highway 401, north of Lavinia St., west of Victoria St. N. and east of Toronto Rd.
4. South of Caroline St. And Hope St. N. and north of Martha St. And Young St.
5. South of Molson St., north of Croft St., west of Rose Glen Rd. N. and east of Hope St. N.

Work is underway and service should be restored to most affected customers today. However, individual customers may be without power for a longer period.

Orono - About 45 customers in Orono are currently without power. The affected streets include Church St., Station St., Bowen St. and Rowe St. The cause of the problem has been identified. Repair work may be completed as early as today.

Ajax - Approximately 4,400 customers remain without power, in the following general areas:

1. South of Bayly St. E., north of Dreyer Dr. E., west of Pickering Beach Rd. and east of Southwood Park
2. South of Highway 401, north of Clements Rd. E., west of Pickering Beach Rd. and east of MacKenzie Ave.
3. South of Highway 2, north of Highway 401, west of Westney Rd. S. and east of Church St. S.

The initial focus of today's restoration efforts is in area 1. Most customers in this area should have service restored today. Depending on conditions and progress, other customers in the above areas may be without service into Christmas day and perhaps beyond.

Pickering - Outages continue in the following areas:

South-west Pickering - Approximately 1,000 customers in the following areas continue to be without service:

1. South of Highway 401, north of Lake Ontario, west of Whites Rd. and east the Rouge River
2. South of Highway 2, north of Lake Ontario, west of Westshore Blvd. and east of Whites Rd..

Service crews are working in this area today.

North Pickering - Approximately 500 customers in the following areas continue to be without service.

1. Along 9^th Concession, west of Lakeridge Rd. and east of Brock Rd.
2. Along 8^th Concession, west of Brock Rd. and east of Sideline 22
3. Along 7^th Concession, west of Salem Rd. and east of Sideline 12
4. All of Greenwood Road
5. Along Highway 7, west of Lakeridge Rd. and east of Salem Rd.
6. Along Altona Rd., north of the 3^rd Concession and south of the 5^th Concession
7. All of Whitevale Road, including the Hamlet of Whitevale

Service crews are working in these areas today.

Miscellaneous - Smaller scale outages have been identified throughout the community in the following areas:

1. Sections of the Major Oaks subdivision, including Duberry Dr.
2. All of Tillings Road
3. Sections of the area immediately south and east of the intersection of Taunton Rd. and Brock Rd.

Residents who reside outside of the above geographic zones should call 1-866-579-6819 to report that they are without power.

While Veridian continues to be committed to restoring power to all affected customers as quickly as possible, equipment damage affecting individual customers may result in prolonged power outages.

Customers are reminded to exercise extreme caution around damaged poles and downed wires. All fallen wires should be considered live and dangerous. Customers are urged to report the locations of fallen wires to Veridian's 24-hour Outage Hotline by calling 1-866-579-6819.

Veridian Connections Inc. safely and reliably delivers electricity to more than 116,000 customers in the Cities of Pickering and Belleville, the Towns of Ajax, Port Hope and Gravenhurst, and the communities of Uxbridge, Bowmanville, Newcastle, Orono, Port Perry, Beaverton, Sunderland and Cannington. Veridian Connections Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Veridian Corporation. The City of Pickering, the Town of Ajax, the Municipality of Clarington and the City of Belleville jointly own Veridian Corporation.

SOURCE: Veridian

Chris Mace
Sales & PR Representative - Corporate Communications
Veridian Connections Inc.
905-427-9870, extension 2218