A trip on the Labrador-Island Link transmission line caused power outages across the island just as the work day was coming to an end.
NL Hydro says the outages, caused by load shedding following a trip on the Labrador-Island Link, were brief and restoration began almost immediately.
Newfoundland Power says 70,000 customers lost power, the majority of which been fully restored.
Load shedding occurs when a trip, or issue results in sudden loss of generation.
NL Hydro automatically drops predetermined blocks of customers to balance the system.
The process is designed to protect the system from damage or an even greater outage.
In those scenarios, outages are not expected to last more than 30 minutes.
Earlier story
Newfoundland Power is investigating a widespread power outage affecting a large portion of the province this hour.
The power is out in in pockets across the island from St. John’s to Port aux Basques.
There is no official update on the cause of the outages.
VOCM News will have details as they become available.