Stay Safe. Stay Informed.
Stay informed and prepared during severe weather. Our Storm Centre provides real-time updates on outages, restoration progress, and affected areas, so you know what to expect. You’ll also find important safety tips and preparation guidance to help you and your household stay safe before, during, and after a storm.
If you don’t see your outage on our map, please call our 24/7 outage line at 613-738-0188.
Outage reporting update from the field 2
As of 4:30 p.m. today, approximately 8,500 customers remain without power across the city of Ottawa. We continue to treat this as a multi-day restoration event to be completed by end of day Saturday, April 8. Today’s efforts focused on restoring power to the largest impacted areas and to those customers who remained without power, followed by a shift to smaller areas and individual outages.
As of 4:30 p.m. today, approximately 8,500 customers remain without power across the city of Ottawa.
- We continue to treat this as a multi-day restoration event to be completed by end of day Saturday, April 8.
- Today’s efforts focused on restoring power to the largest impacted areas and to those customers who remained without power, followed by a shift to smaller areas and individual outages.
Outage reporting update from the field
As of 4:30 p.m. today, approximately 8,500 customers remain without power across the city of Ottawa. We continue to treat this as a multi-day restoration event to be completed by end of day Saturday, April 8.Today’s efforts focused on restoring power to the largest impacted areas and to those customers who remained without power, followed by a shift to smaller areas and individual outages. This evening, our crews will be continuing to restore power in the following areas..Saturday restoration will focus on any residual outages in smaller areas and individual outages, with the aim to have all remaining customers restored by end of day. Please be respectful of our crews’ efforts to restore power to your community as safely as possible.
Public safety tips
As Hydro Ottawa crews work to restore power, public safety is one of our top priorities. These tips can help you stay safe.
Keep Your Distance
Respect work site perimetres by keeping a safe distance from crews as they work on energizing the power grid.
Give us a Call
If you notice downed power lines, stay 10 metres away (the length of a school bus) and call us at 613 738-0188.
Keep 911 Clear
Reserve 911 for situations where there is a risk to public safety or a life-threatening emergency.
4-Way Stops
When traffic signals are out, always treat intersections as a 4-way stop. Proceed with caution.
Report an Outage
Hydro Ottawa relies on customers and the community to notify us when an outage occurs. This can shorten our response time and the duration of the outage. Our outage map is updated every fifteen minutes.
Frequently asked questions
The transmission and distribution system that brings electricity to the city of Ottawa are part of a complex grid. Widespread damage to the grid can often result in power being energized for one street, while the next street over will remain without power. This is because neighbours may not be connected to the distribution system from the same power line, or transformer.If you don’t see a hydro truck or crew in your neighbourhood that doesn’t mean that we aren’t working on the problem in your area. Our system is highly sophisticated, utilizing automation and remote access through our Control Centre. This enables us to move power from one part of the city to another without ever needing to be on site.Please note that there may be instances where power will need to be interrupted to customers that already have electricity in order to safely reconnect their neighbours to the same transformer or feeder.
During major outage events, we need to investigate the extent of damage and evaluate the resources required before restoration can take place. Depending on the damage, this can take several days.Our electrical system is incredibly integrated and complex. With profound destruction and obstacles in and around neighbourhoods and homes, our ability to assess and come up with safe restoration plans takes time to ensure the safety of our crews and the public.We prioritize repairs that pose serious safety hazards, and restore power to critical infrastructure such as emergency services, hospitals, water and sewage treatment plants, schools and larger neighbourhoods of customers first. We then systematically move on to repair lines that are serving the largest number of customers until we are repairing and restoring individual customers in our community.When power outages are widespread because of a storm, providing restoration times is extremely difficult - particularly if we are dealing with outages across the city, damage to the transmission and distribution systems, but also properties and roads.Our crews work around the clock to address dangerous and life-threatening situations in order to restore power.
In some instances, if your owned electrical equipment is damaged, you will need to arrange for repairs before we can safely reconnect your power. Typically, your equipment begins where the wires attach to the house.If the storm has caused damage to your home’s electrical system or you notice downed electrical wires, trees or branches near an overhead power line on your property, do not attempt to make any repairs yourself. Stay back to avoid the risk of shock, electrocution or fire. Contact us at 613 738-6418.
Before and After Planning
Pre-Storm
We alert our customers of pending storms and possible outages by keeping up with weather events minute-by-minute.
Find out how you can prepare your family and home or business.
During Storm
Stay safe and keep informed as our Outage Management System detects areas without power across our city.
Find out what you need to know to get through a long outage and stay informed.
Post-Storm
After a storm, we assess and begin restoration efforts when it is safe to do so. We prioritize work and dispatch crews.
Know which hazards to watch for, and how to stay safe after a power outage.
Still without power?
If your neighbourhood has power but you don’t, it’s possible your home’s electrical system may have sustained serious damage from the storm. We may not be able to reconnect your power until a licensed electrical contractor has assessed the situation and made all necessary repairs. Find out what steps you need to take.
