PowerStream Working to Restore Power Due to Multiple Pole Fires

VAUGHAN, ON--(Marketwired - March 14, 2015) - Fog and light drizzle rain are affecting PowerStream hydro lines and poles by interacting with the road salt residue that had encrusted electrical poles and equipment stirred up by vehicle traffic over the winter months, igniting several pole fires; primarily in the York Region area with most impact to our customer base in the Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill areas.

PowerStream crews are working to restore multiple outages/pole fires and are expecting to have many customers restored within the hour and most as follows:

• Vaughan - estimated time of restoration 6 p.m.
• Richmond Hill - estimated time of restoration 8 p.m.
• Markham - estimated time of restoration 8 p.m.

Pole fires occur when road salt on the grounded pole is exposed to the rain and ice crystals, it causes the electrical current to flow past the insulator and ground through the pole, which causes arcing. This can produce momentary electrical flashovers that cause pole fires, which in turn results in power outages. This is similar to the events that occurred last Tuesday and Wednesday across southern Ontario.

ABOUT POWERSTREAM
PowerStream is a community-owned energy company providing power and related services to more than 370,000 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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