More than 18,000 homes, most in the boroughs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in Montreal, were without electricity Tuesday morning.
Posted at 7:33 a.m.
Updated at 11:36 a.m.
According to Hydro-Québec spokesperson Caroline Des Rosiers, it is an equipment breakdown at the Charland substation, in the north of the island of Montreal, which is mainly to blame. At the height of the outage, around 6:15 a.m., some 100,000 addresses were affected. “There are maneuvers that were carried out remotely to resupply a large part of the customers, approximately 50,000 customers,” indicates the spokesperson.
A Hydro-Québec team is on site to assess the situation and decide on measures to restore power, scheduled from 9:15 a.m. according to the Hydro-Québec Info-Pannes website. As for whether the breakdowns are linked to the extreme cold, “we cannot assume a reason at this time,” replies M.me Rose bushes. We will wait for the teams to get there. »
“We are very, very sensitive to the fact that it is very cold at the moment and that we want to restore power as quickly as possible for these people,” adds the spokesperson.
-At the time of writing these lines, around 11:30 a.m., Info-Pannes listed 75 separate power interruptions, including 28 in Montreal, 18 in Montérégie and 8 in Outaouais. At Urgences-Santé, at the end of the morning, there were no reports of any intervention linked to these breakdowns. However, we would like to remind you of the usual instructions regarding the use of auxiliary heating devices. “Often, people will find a way to warm up their home, it can be done with devices like a barbecue, for example, that people go inside to warm up,” explains Jean-Pierre Rouleau, department manager at Emergencies-Health. You have to be extremely careful: the barbecue is for outdoors, it is not designed for indoors. All devices that generate combustion can cause cases of poisoning. »
Anyone experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning – nausea, fatigue, dizziness – should “go outside immediately and then call 911 if necessary,” says Mr. Rouleau.
On its website, the Montreal School Service Center (CSSDM) specifies that “all schools, daycare services and administrative offices of the Montreal School Service Center are open” Tuesday. “For schools affected by outages, we are monitoring the situation closely,” we add. In Lac-Saint-Jean, the Pays-des-Bleuets School Services Center announced the suspension of classes in all its establishments “due to the extreme cold”, however maintaining childcare services. None of the three other service centers in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean have issued a similar opinion.
Hydro-Québec expected demand to reach 41,500 MW on Tuesday morning, when temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius were forecast, indicated to The Press the day before its spokesperson, Cendrix Bouchard. The state-owned company anticipated that its network could meet demand, without resorting to exceptional measures.
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