OTTAWA – A devastating storm with high winds, heavy rain and lightning that hit the nation’s capital on May 21, resulted in extensive damage to both the distribution and transmission equipment across our service territory. The situation remains complex.
We are aware of more than 725 different outages affecting more than 176,000 customers.
Crews have worked overnight, and will continue to do so over the coming days. At this time, we believe this will be a multi-day restoration effort.
When power outages occur, Hydro Ottawa's first priority is to respond to any unsafe conditions first, and then restore electrical service to our customers as quickly as possible.
Our focus will be restoring electricity to first responders and essential services such as fire and police services, as well as hospitals, that are needed to assist others in emergency situations. Power restoration work will then be prioritized by trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number of customers: power will be restored initially to large scale outages, followed by smaller ones, keeping safety as the number one priority.
We’d like to thank all our first responders, essential workers who are ensuring public safety while working throughout the night and over the coming days to get power back and people to safety. Remember, if you see them out, please keep a safe distance.
If customers notice downed power lines, stay at least 10 meters (the length of a school bus) away from the wires and from any objects that are in contact with the lines such as trees. Please reserve the use of 911 to situations where there is a risk to public safety, and life-threatening emergencies. If there is a downed power line with no injuries and no risk to public safety, please report it via the police non-emergency number at 613 236-1222 or by calling us at 613 738-0188.
Hydro Ottawa will continue to keep customers and the public advised of the situation via the news media, our website and on our social channels.
Media Contact
Josée Larocque
Manager, Media and Public Affairs
Hydro Ottawa
[email protected]