WESTMOUNT – Close to 500 residents in Westmount are being forced to deal with selective power outages, mostly during peak consumption periods in the morning and evening.
The rolling blackouts are forcing families with children to scramble during bedtime, and many are fuming over the fact that they weren’t notified by the city.
“If it was planned it would be nice to get a heads up about it,” said Annie Bergevin, a mother of three.
The Bergevin family camped out in their living room and roasted marshmallows on candles when the power went out for four hours on Sunday night.
“We heard nothing, so I just waited and eventually it came back on,” said Janet Bourke, a teacher at Loyola High School.
“Luckily I had finished all my marking.”
Hydro Westmount has been staging the rolling blackouts since Sunday, after two underground cables broke simultaneously, leading the city to use reserve circuits, which then became overloaded when the freezing cold temperatures hit.
“The total number of people affected is 455 clients, but we’re cutting about a hundred clients at once on a rotation basis,” said Benoit Hurtubise, director of Hydro Westmount.
Power should be permanently restored to all homes in Westmount by Thursday, but in the meantime clients can expect more blackouts.
“We apologize for all the residents that are affected, we’re really working hard to prevent this from happening,” said Hurtubise.
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