Ottawa, Ontario - August 2, 2023 - As the city recovers from the damage caused by the July 28 hail storm, Hydro Ottawa crews continue to find debris, such as trees and branches near power lines, which can result in outages when in contact.
Starting this week, Hydro Ottawa crews will further be patrolling areas within its service territory that were badly damaged by the storm, to specifically look for trees or branches close to power lines and other electrical equipment.
Crews could perform tree trimming or cutting on residential property and may require access to residents’ backyard in order to access City of Ottawa right-of-ways. While Hydro Ottawa typically conducts tree trimming within a three-metre clearance area of our equipment, in some cases, a clearance beyond the three-metre threshold may be required.
This effort, which will take place over the course of a few days, aims to reduce the impact of damaged trees, or trees that could have an impact on the electrical infrastructure and cause longer power outages in the future.
If an emergency outage is needed as a result of this work, Hydro Ottawa will make every effort to give residents adequate notice so they can make any arrangements deemed necessary. However, in some cases, crews may be required to cut power without advance notification, in order to safely perform tree trimming.
While there may be some larger outages required, most will likely impact 10 customers or less, and therefore will not appear on Hydro Ottawa’s outage map.
Hydro Ottawa understands the inconvenience this may cause, and appreciates residents' patience and understanding as it continues to work on stabilizing the system and ensuring a safe and reliable supply of power to its customers.