Hydro-Quebec and Hydro One have restored power to hundreds of thousands of customers who were affected by the recent windstorms that swept through Quebec and Ontario.
Hydro-Québec restored service to at least 840,000 customers since Nov. 1, 85% of those affected, with the help of more than 1000 workers in the field. During the height of the storm at 3 p.m. on Nov. 1, about 990,000 customers were without power. At 11 a.m. on Nov. 3, the number fell below 150,000.
Work in the field remained challenging even three days after the storm in Quebec. As of Nov. 3, there were still 3700 sites requiring work. In some areas, complete sections of the power system had to be rebuilt. In others, transformers and poles had to be replaced, requiring equipment to be prepared and shipped from all over Quebec.
The main regions affected in Quebec were the following:
- Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec: 38,000 customers
- Chaudière-Appalaches: 23,000 customers
- Montérégie: 22,000 customers
- Laurentides: 20,000 customers
- Estrie: 20,000 customers
- Québec: 10,000 customers
During the storm that battered southern, central, and eastern Ontario, Lyla Garzouzi, vice president of distribution, Hydro One, said, “We have been tracking the storm and using our outage predication tool in order to get into position to respond to any additional outages from the storm. Our crews have continued restoration efforts throughout the province and we are moving additional crews into the hardest hit areas."
Hydro One crews restored power to more than 195,000 of customers as of Nov. 1, receiving support from neighboring utilities.
