Update – Hydro One Update Concerning Ice Storm 2025

(Today’s Northumberland file photo)

Since the start of the devasting ice storm (March 28, 11 p.m.), crews have restored power to more than 91 per cent of customers (up 2 per cent from the last update this morning). This was a unique storm that started on Friday, March 28 and continued into late Sunday and covered a large and wide area of the province. Of the 121,000 customers without power at this time, 24,000 have been out for less than 48 hours and nearly 35,000 are secondary properties such as cottages and trailers.

There are 3,900 crew members working as safely and quickly to restore power. This includes our contractors and utility partners providing us with Mutual Assistance. Severe damage continues to be uncovered as restoration continues. In some areas, damage is so severe that crews are rebuilding sections of the local distribution grid. To date, crews have identified 1,973 (up 59 from the last update this morning) broken poles.

Restoration in the hardest hit areas will continue into the weekend. For remote areas, including customers who can only be reached by water, restoration may take longer. This includes many seasonal properties.

Safety is our priority. There are a number of critical messages we continue to share including:

• Turning off the stove or any elements that may have been in use when the power went out along with any other major appliances. We are receiving reports from multiple fire departments that this continues to be a big concern.
• Some areas are also affected by flooding. If flooding occurs at home and water starts to reach electrical outlets, baseboard heaters or furnace, customers should call us at 1-800-434-1235 to have power safely turned off. Do not enter any flooded areas, such as the basement, until power is disconnected.
• Customers that have damage to their home’s electrical equipment (ex. stack/pipe where the powerline from the road connects to their home), need to have a licensed electrician make the necessary repairs. Customers can learn more about the steps to take through the Electrical Safety Authority- https://esasafe.com/safety/storm-safety/restoring-power/.
• Customers in the process of having a licensed electrician install a generator should follow the instructions below to avoid the temporary disconnection requirement and breaking the meter seal – Flash 25-15-FL.

Below is the updated regional breakdown by operations centre that includes number of outages and customers restored since the beginning of the storm on Friday, March 28, and the number of active outages and customers without power at this time. These numbers include the additional outages caused by the weather over the last two days.

We have also included the number of seasonal properties affected by outages in each operations centre. These numbers are also included in the number of customers without power column.

Please note these areas do not align with municipal boundaries as they are our broken down by our operations centres. A map of our operations centres’ service area can be found below.

Author: Pete Fisher

Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love