Detection and restoration
When your power goes out, we work to get it back on as soon as possible.
Here are the steps our crews take to restore your electricity when there’s an outage.
Power outage alerts come to us through two channels:
Through technology
A sophisticated computer system called SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) communicates constantly with monitoring and control devices throughout the city's power distribution network and in our substations. If the power goes out anywhere, or if there’s another issue with the electricity system, SCADA immediately alerts our control room operators.
From you
While SCADA is excellent for overseeing larger parts of the power grid, our operators also rely on your reports to confirm smaller outages and pinpoint exactly where we need to send a crew. Your information helps us quickly understand what’s happening.
You can report an outage in the following ways:
- Call our 24/7 outage line at (613) 738-0188
- Report the outage online via MyAccount
- Let us know through the Hydro Ottawa app
- Text “OUT” to PWROUT (797688)
Once we know the general location of the outage, we send the nearest available crew to the area. Our field crews are always in close communication with our control room, sharing updates, making sure the outage site is safe and coordinating their efforts to restore power efficiently.
Safety is always our top priority, so when our crews arrive, they start by assessing the safety of the area. If they can’t immediately identify the cause of the outage, they'll investigate. Finding the specific cause of a power outage can be difficult and time-consuming, especially in bad weather. It could be anything from a car accident to faulty underground cables, or even a downed tree or pole.
Challenging conditions can sometimes slow down our restoration efforts. In these situations, our crews focus their efforts where they can help customers most effectively, without putting lives at risk.
As soon as crews are on their way, we share important safety details and information about the outage’s status with you, the public, the City of Ottawa and the media. Here's how we keep you informed:
24/7 outage line
If you call (613) 738-0188, you'll hear a recorded message with details about current outages as they become available. This information may include locations, number of customers affected, status of our repair crews and estimated time until power is restored.
Outage web map
We update our outage map with information about outages affecting 10 or more customers within 200 metres of each other. You can quickly see outage areas and how many customers are affected, and zoom in to see the streets that have been impacted.
SMS/text and email alerts
Enrolled customers receive text and email outage alerts. To learn how to sign up for these messages, visit our Outage alerts page.
Social media
We share outage information on Bluesky, Facebook and X during business hours and major power outages.
Note that we no longer upload regular content to X; however, we continue to post outage communications and safety messages to the platform.
Once our crews determine the cause of the outage and what repairs are needed, they provide an estimated time of restoration (ETR). We then update the status of the outage on our outage map.
While we do our best to predict when your power will be back on, ETRs can change. This usually happens once our crews fully investigate the extent of the damage at the scene. For example, if they anticipated a simple repair but find they have to replace a broken utility pole, that can extend the ETR as replacing a pole can take up to eight hours.
When storms cause widespread power outages, providing estimates becomes even more difficult. When we have to manage hundreds of outages, we prioritize power restoration in the same way the City of Ottawa manages snow removal:
When possible, we perform what’s called “emergency switching.” This involves temporarily moving customers onto another power circuit to provide them with electricity while we work on more extensive repairs.
After they finish the repairs, our crews conduct thorough testing to ensure everything is working correctly before they restore power. If your outage is no longer listed on our outage map but you're still without power, the electrical equipment outside your home may be damaged. We recommend checking your circuit breaker or fuse box. If you don't find any issues on your end, call our 24/7 outage line at (613) 738-0188.
The safety of the public and our employees is our number one priority at all times. To learn more about how we restore power, watch our video on preparing for power outages.
Every storm and power outage gives us a chance to learn and to build a stronger, more resilient electricity grid for our community. Our team tracks all relevant data about storm outages and analyzes each event, as well as our teams’ efforts to restore power. This information helps us identify trends and plan upgrades to our electricity infrastructure. It also informs our ongoing maintenance and tree trimming programs.
For more information, check out our blogs:
For more information, check out our blogs:
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