VAUGHAN, ON, July 9, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PowerStream responded quickly to restore power to more than 30,000 customers after severe weather conditions Monday evening caused major power outages in Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill.
Thunderstorms and heavy rains created havoc with utility transmission and distribution equipment across the Greater Toronto Area, including transformer stations owned by PowerStream and Hydro One. The outages in PowerStream's service territory began shortly before 5 p.m. and continued to escalate through the evening hours primarily due to a loss of electricity supply from Hydro One's high-voltage transmission network to three transformer stations.
Operators in PowerStream's System Control Centre responded promptly and worked with field personnel to restore service by re-routing power from other parts of the utility's distribution system while effecting repairs to damaged equipment. In some areas, PowerStream was able to restore power within 10 minutes of the outage occurring.
More than 29,000 customers had power restored shortly after 10:30 p.m. Outages for the remaining customers were the result of significant damage to equipment in PowerStream's distribution system. Power was restored to most of those customers after midnight.
QUOTE
- "Yesterday's fierce storm forced outages across York Region and the Greater Toronto Area," said Frank Scarpitti, PowerStream Board Chair and Mayor of the City of Markham. "I applaud our team for responding quickly under difficult circumstances to safely restore power to the majority of customers within a few hours."
- "Although we are committed to delivering reliable power to our customers safely and efficiently, it has become quite evident in recent years that severe storms that have an impact on our equipment are becoming more frequent," explained Brian Bentz, PowerStream President and CEO. "It is for this reason we encourage our customers to be prepared in the event of any emergency, including extended power outages, caused by extreme weather conditions."
BACKGROUND
- The storm also caused major outages for thousands of customers of several other utilities that serve the Greater Toronto Area including Toronto Hydro, Enersource Hydro Mississauga and Hydro One.
- The 30,000 customers affected by the outages in PowerStream's service territory Monday evening was the largest since Superstorm Sandy caused widespread power outages across southern Ontario late in October 2012. That storm resulted in 35,000 PowerStream customers being without power.
ABOUT POWERSTREAM
PowerStream is a community-owned energy services company providing power and related solutions to more than 360,000 customers residing or owning a business in communities located immediately north of Toronto and in Central Ontario. It is jointly owned by the Cities of Barrie, Markham and Vaughan.
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CATEGORIES – Outages
KEYWORDS – Power outages, York Region, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill