Update – Hydro One Update Concerning Ice Storm 2025

Pete Fisher
1 month ago
• Categories: Local

(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.

 

 

By the numbers – regional breakdown
Operations centre	Restored outages	Number of customers restored (approximate)	Active outages	Number of customers without power (approximate)	Percentage of customers restored (approximate)	Number of seasonal properties (approximate)
Fenelon Falls	340	71,862	629	27,947	72%	5,156
Peterborough (surrounding area)	380	82,648	623	19,856	81%	2,967
Ashburnham (Peterborough proper)	214	95,485	111	4,747	95%	–
Orillia (surrounding area)	144	37,321	456	18,594	67%	2,761
Couchiching (Orillia proper)	148	40,062	160	4,918	89%	–
Bracebridge	171	70,371	204	13,027	84%	7,660
Penetang	206	65,014	122	5,876	92%	3,759
Tweed	604	90,296	100	1,263	99%	801
Minden	116	48,377	158	7,755	86%	4,659
Barrie	237	51,163	207	5,454	90%	466
Bancroft	267	39,415	131	7,147	85%	4,602
Parry Sound	170	59,489	36	2,055	97%	1,740
Alliston	283	31,756	68	526	98%	37
Owen Sound	266	38,104	7	22	99%	16
Newmarket	413	52,067	55	706	99%	41
Kingston	348	51,396	7	127	99%	101
Bowmanville	206	23,859	3	62	99%	–
Walkerton	89	6,304	2	30	99%	–
Manitoulin	48	9,411	1	56	99%	50
Huntsville	66	20,241	4	15	99%	26
Perth	47	6,902	6	159	98%	109
Brockville	119	28,366	5	14	99%	12