Residents in and around parts of Regina woke up to no power on Wednesday morning.
SaskPower is blaming damaged power lines west of the city for the power outages.
Neighbourhoods impacted were Albert Park, Coronation Park, Parliament Place, Dieppe, Westhill Park, Cathedral, Riverheights, Whitmore Park, Hillsdale, Lakeridge, Walsh Acres and Argyle Park.
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SaskPower says in total, 40,000 customers were affected, some losing power for nearly five hours.
Adding a build up from dry weather is to blame, causing power poles to catch fire.
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“It can actually cause the grime and sometimes salt that builds up on the power line to conduct electricity from the wire into the pole and then that can start a fire,” said Joel Cherry, SaskPower spokesperson.
Although SaskPower admits aging infrastructure is part of the problem.
“We certainly know we have a major infrastructure issue that we need to deal with across the province,” Minister Responsible for SaskPower, Dustin Duncan said. “That’s why we have seen routinely billion dollar budgets for SaskPower when it comes to their capital budgets.”
SaskPower workers were also dealing with outrages in Regina rural, Grand Coulee, Pense, Odessa, White City, Vibank and Copper Sands, but power has been restored in most of the area.
Power has also been restored to the Piapot First Nation and all surrounding area north of Regina along Highway 6 up the valley, who were also without power.
Crews are still working on restoring power in some areas.
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