What Home Owners Need to Know

What Causes Power Outages

Severe Weather

Most power outages are caused by severe weather — high winds, lightning, freezing rain, snow, or flooding. During a storm, electricity poles are vulnerable to lightning strikes, while strong winds can snap off tree branches and bring down power lines. Freezing rain or snow can build up on equipment causing damage.

Equipment Failure

Although our equipment is regularly maintained and updated, problems can occasionally occur. Cables, connectors, transformers, switches, and many other types of equipment can fail, triggering an outage.

Vehicle Accidents

Vehicles that accidentally hit and damage our equipment can disrupt the power supply.

Wildlife

Wildlife such as birds, squirrels and raccoons are often responsible for outages, particularly in neighbourhoods with mature tree coverage. When wildlife comes into contact with equipment or chews into a powerline, this may result in a service interruption.

Cable Dig-ins

Construction crews can inadvertently hit a buried line or underground cable while excavating, resulting in an outage.

Trees

Neighbourhoods with large trees are more likely to experience power outages. When a tree comes into contact with a powerline, either due to bad weather or growth, circuit breakers or other protective equipment, are designed to cut off the power until crews remove the tree and reset the equipment.

Planned Interruptions

Occasionally, service interruptions are necessary to allow our crews to safely conduct maintenance or repair work. We try to schedule these repairs at the least inconvenient times for you and keep them to a minimum. Whenever possible, we provide customers with prior notice before we interrupt service.