Imagine waking up to a freezing cold morning, only to find your home without power. This was the reality for thousands of residents in Montreal over the weekend. A transformer failure at the Hampstead substation left approximately 15,000 customers in the dark, primarily in the Côte-St-Luc and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce areas.
By Monday noon, the situation had improved, but 1,644 customers were still without electricity. Hydro-Québec spokesperson Pascal Poinlane explained that reconnecting homes after a prolonged outage can be a complex process.
"When homes have been without power for days, the heating systems create a surge in the electrical systems for the first few hours. We can't restore power to everyone simultaneously; it must be done gradually," he said.
The equipment failure was not weather-related, but the extreme cold temperatures certainly added a layer of complexity to the repair and reconnection efforts.
"We were aware of the cold snap, so we brought in additional workers and deployed generators to provide temporary power to some areas," Poinlane added.
The Hampstead substation, which serves the affected neighborhoods, is over 70 years old and is scheduled for replacement this year. The project is expected to be completed by 2029, and the new substation will have increased capacity. However, Poinlane emphasized that the age of the substation was not a contributing factor in this particular equipment failure.
The impact of the power outage extended beyond homes. Several schools in the affected areas, including the Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton schools in N.D.G., John Grant High School, and Wagar Adult Education Centre in Côte-St-Luc, were closed on Monday. Additionally, community centers and libraries in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce remained open until 10 p.m. on Sunday to provide warmth and charging facilities for residents.
Unfortunately, a tragic incident occurred during the outage. A 66-year-old woman was found deceased in her Montreal West apartment on Sunday evening as firefighters conducted wellness checks in the area. The apartment had been without power since Saturday morning.
As the city braced for more winter challenges, a yellow snowfall warning was issued for the Montreal area, predicting up to 10 centimeters of accumulation and slippery conditions due to the extreme cold.
Monday's high temperature was expected to reach minus-13 C, with an afternoon wind chill of minus-20 C. Overnight, temperatures were forecast to drop to minus-18 C, with a wind chill near minus-25 C. Similar conditions were anticipated for Tuesday, but the sun is expected to make a welcome return by mid-week.
This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of reliable infrastructure and the impact it has on our daily lives. It also highlights the resilience and community spirit of Montrealers, who came together to support one another during this challenging time.
