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Thousands of Hydro-Québec customers in Montreal’s west end were still without power Monday evening, though the public utility said service had been restored to most streets by early Tuesday.
Hydro-Québec is asking customers to curb energy use as crews work to repair an equipment failure at the Hampstead substation. While most customers had their power restored after it was cut Saturday morning, more than 5,000 Montreal customers were without electricity late Monday.
Hydro-Québec says the restoration effort has been complicated by intense cold, which is creating a strain on the local grid. As power is restored to frigid homes, heating systems immediately run at maximum capacity, causing localized overloads that risk triggering new outages.
“We must proceed very gradually with restoring service, a few customers at a time, to avoid overloading the grid and causing new outages,” Hydro-Québec said in a statement.
To help stabilize the network, the utility is urging residents in Côte-Saint-Luc, Hampstead, Montreal West and Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce who are not affected by the outage to lower their thermostats by a few degrees and limit the use of energy-intensive appliances such as dryers and dishwashers.
WATCH | Why are some customers still in the dark?:
Why it’s taking days to restore power to some Montrealers on the coldest days of the year
Hydro-Québec said it had to fix a breaker at the Hampstead substation, which feeds power to areas such as Côte-Saint-Luc, Que., and Montreal’s neighbouring Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. Thousands of customers went without electricity during the winter storm sweeping the region.
Hydro-Québec acknowledged the impact of prolonged outages during extreme cold and encouraged affected residents to consult their municipal websites for the locations of warming centres. This came after Montreal residents woke up to snow-filled skies and slippery streets on Monday.
Some Montreal schools announced weather-related closures on Monday, while other closures were related to ongoing power outages on the Montreal island.
The announced closures included:
École Vanguard School in Saint-Laurent.Wagar Adult Education Centre in Côte Saint-Luc.Philip E. Layton Schools in NDG.The Mackay Centre in NDG.Lower Canada College in NDG.
“We completely understand the impact of a power outage in this extreme cold, our thoughts are obviously with all the affected customers. Restoring the service safely and rapidly is our priority,” Hydro-Québec spokesperson Lynn St-Laurent said.
St-Laurent said the utility can’t bring power back all at once because it puts too much strain on the system.
The affected communities have set up warming centres. The Red Cross also opened an overnight emergency shelter at the Côte-des-Neiges community centre while Montreal firefighters spent Sunday going door-to-door to perform wellness checks.
On Monday, the Aquatic and Community Centre in Côte Saint-Luc remained accessible to affected residents looking to warm up, have a shower or grab a cup of coffee, with regular programming resuming.
In NDG, several municipal facilities were also ready to welcome those affected by outages including the Côte-des-Neiges Community Recreation Centre, Centre communautaire Monkland, Bibliothèque de Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Bibliothèque Benny, Centre sportif Côte-des-Neiges and Bibliothèque de Côte-des-Neiges.
At the height of the outages on Saturday, around 20,000 Hydro-Québec customers on the island of Montreal were in the dark.
Getting around the city
Snow-clearing operations were underway Monday morning, with Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada telling CBC’s Daybreak that crews were running 24/7 to ensure safe streets.
While city buses have been running, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said weather conditions could result in some delays on bus routes.
Meanwhile, an equipment breakdown on the REM light-rail network caused a service slowdown between the Deux-Montagnes and Côte-de-Liesse stations Monday morning, with train changes required at the Côte-de-Liesse and Bois-Franc stations. Normal service had resumed by 1:30 p.m.
As for those heading to Montreal’s Trudeau International Ariport, it is recommended passengers check with their airline for any delays or flight cancellations.
Eric Forest, a spokesperson for Aéroports de Montréal, told CBC News in an email that while the airport is “fully operational,” some flights have been cancelled.
“Today’s flight cancellations are mainly due to weather conditions affecting parts of the United States and southern Ontario,” Forest said.