Power outages are impacting some parts of Waterloo Region, leading to heightened frustrations surrounding communication from the power companies.
Those outages stem from a round of freezing rain that brought more than 5 millimetres of ice accretion, beginning throughout the course of the day on Boxing Day and lasting into the 27th.
The build-up led to an icy commute for drivers as well as heavy layers of ice on trees and power lines, leading to a series of downed trees and disrupted power lines.
One of those outages was centred around the area of Penelope Drive in Kitchener, which lasted throughout the evening and into the night.
“I can tell you the time is currently 1:22 a.m., and the power remains out,” Jim Schonewille said to 570 NewsRadio. “I was lucky my son had a generator, and we do have some power, but I can tell you the time is currently 1: 22 am and the power remains out.”
He said that the issue has left him frustrated, particularly with Enova Power, which had said power had been fully restored in his area in the evening, but the power still remained out across his entire street for hours.
“I am sure that I am not the only person a little ticked this evening at Enova Power, especially during this most recent ice storm,” Schonewille, who lives in Kitchener., said. “Power went out at 5:15 p.m. and is still out for our complex on Penelope Drive in Kitchener. I went out to see, and it’s still out for the surrounding area of Cora Drive and Penelope Drive.”
Centre Wellington Hydro is also reporting a large number of outages this morning, scattered throughout the county, with Hydro One reporting similarly across much of the province.
Photo of a neighbourhood without power in Kitchener (Jim Schonewille)
Enova Power has said that it is still working to restore power in various parts of the region, saying “crews are working hard to restore power after storms, but outages remain,” adding that the upcoming snowfall is only expected to compound some of the ongoing issues.
Schonewille stated that his issue isn’t centred around those efforts to restore power, or the speed of it in particular, but rather the communication that has been relayed by Enova Power through its online outage map.
“I think, as many, they lack accountability, and they could have provided a very unsafe situation for many if they had chosen to travel somewhere else due to the power outage, then showing the power was back on, when in fact, the power is still out,” he said.
Screenshot from Enova Power’s outage map, detailing ongoing outages as of 11:00 a.m. Monday (Enova Power)
According to Enova Power, there is still a list of areas without power as of 11:00 a.m. on Monday morning, saying it still expects those power outages to worsen as the weather begins to decline with snow and flurries through the early week.
“Crews worked through the night and have restored power to most customers affected by Sunday’s freezing rain. Snow squalls and high winds are in the forecast,” an alert on their website reads. “More weather-related power outages are expected. Crews are available to respond. Thank you for your patience.”
A list of ongoing outages across Waterloo Region can be found on Enova Power’s website, where users can also report power outages in their area. Residents in Cambridge can see details in their area on Grand Bridge Energy’s website.