Outages

1. Outage awareness
   
   • Through customer calls and data notifications from the electrical system (e.g. smart meters, etc.)
2. Troubleshoot
   
   • Focus during this stage is to determine the cause of the outage by dispatching crews to the area.
   • For safety reasons, we need to determine the cause of the outage before restoring power.
   • There are several main reasons of outages, including outside forces such as collisions with poles and overhead lines, or contractors digging into underground cables.
3. Switching
   
   • When possible we isolate the area that requires repair by closing and opening switches on the grid to restore power to as many customers as possible.
   • This is why power is often restored in stages and not all at once.
4. Repair
   
   • Depending on the cause of the outage, this sometimes involves minor work, such as trimming trees away from lines, but can include much larger projects such as removing and replacing broken infrastructure (e.g. poles, faulted cables, damaged transformers, etc.).
   • This repair work can take minutes or up to several hours.
   • Safety is always of primary concern, as this work is commonly done in the middle of the night or in adverse weather conditions, which can be quite difficult.

Check It Out

• Is your home the only one without power on your street? If it is, check the circuit breakers or fuses in your electrical panel.  Even if it appears to be on, turn the breaker off and back on again to ensure a good connection.

Turn It Off

• Shut off or unplug appliances, computers, or electronics you were using when the power went out.  Leave one light on so you’ll know when the power returns.
• Keep refrigerators and freezers closed.  If the freezer door has been kept closed, food should stay frozen for 24 to 48 hours. 
• Close all doors, windows and drapes to conserve heat (unless the sun is shining in).
• Never light a fire indoors unless you are using an approved fireplace or wood stove, which must be properly installed and vented to the outside. 
• Home generators are handy for backup electricity in case of an outage; however, direct installation of a generator to an existing electrical system must be done by a licensed electrical contractor and must meet building codes. Always ensure that a portable generator operates outdoors in well-ventilated conditions, away from doors or windows to prevent exhaust gas from entering the house.  Connect lights and appliances directly to the generator. If extension cords must be used, ensure they are properly rated CSA approved cords.

Stay Home

• Unless you are asked to evacuate your home, stay put. If you must go out, drive cautiously.
• If traffic lights are not working, light-controlled intersections must be treated as four-way stops.
• Remember that your electrical garage door won't work, learn how to operate it manually.

Power interruptions are normally short; however, there have been instances in Canada where power interruptions have lasted for days. To learn more about protecting your home during a long-term outage or during cold weather, see Emergency Preparedness. 

What to Do When the Power Returns

• Turn on circuit breakers.
• Check all electrical appliances one by one.
• Warm the house slightly above normal temperature for a few hours to allow it to dry out excess humidity (after a longer outage in cold weather).

If your neighbour’s power has returned, but yours has not, there could be a problem specific to your home. Recheck your main breaker and reset it even it appears to be on. If your power is still out, contact us.

 We also own and maintain the  City’s street light system. Lights on arterial and collector roads are patrolled on a regular basis, but with responsibility for more than 27,300 lights around our community we need your help to identify problems in your area.​

• Use the  street light outage map to notify us of a street light outage.
• Street lights are represented with a light bulb symbol inside an orange circle. 
• To report an outage:
  
  1. Find the street light by clicking “Locate Me” if using a GPS supported device,  or by entering an address (street, city or town, or postal code) in the search bar.
  2. Click on the street light icon and an information box appears that contains details on the light and status if it has been previously reported. 
  3. If the street light needs to be reported, click the “Report this Light” button to report the problem.  If a light has been previously reported, this button will not be available, and the street light icon will have a diagonal line through it.
  4. Complete the required information in the form.  If you wish to receive status updates, be sure to select the “Send Me Update” checkbox and enter your email address.
  5. Click the “Report” button and the street light icon will change to a light bulb with a diagonal line through it.