Power was restored to “critical sites and residential area(s)” in Jasper, Alta., ATCO Electricity tweeted late Thursday night without providing further details.
“Thanks to everyone for your patience through this critical time,” the utility provider said.
On Thursday morning, ATCO Electricity officials said that power had been restored to about two-thirds of the Jasper townsite, but they lost power again at about 9:45 a.m.
“At this point, we don’t have an estimated time for restoration,” said ATCO spokesperson Amanda Mattern during an 11 a.m. update.
She said the outage was due to the challenge of building a temporary generator power system from various vendors, while adding additional load and fuelling up generators without tripping the system.
There are a lot of technical difficulties moving to a generator power system, Mattern explained, saying it’s “extremely challenging” and not as reliable as the transmission system.
Jasper residents and businesses should expect ongoing outages and power interruptions until the permanent transmission infrastructure can be evaluated, repaired and restored — a process that could take weeks.
“The town of Jasper continues to face the challenge of the total loss of transmitted grid power to the entire community,” Mayor Richard Ireland said.
“The technical complexities and load limitations of the temporary generators have become increasingly evident.
“The situation is precarious.”
The town reverted to operating its waste water treatment plan through its own backup power, Ireland said, given the inconsistent generator power from ATCO.
“We are now approximately 80 hours into the current power emergency.”
The mayor said Jasperites and local businesses have shown kindness and calm “in the face of the present calamity” and he urged for that to continue.
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“We are far from over this emergency.”
In an update on Facebook Thursday afternoon, the municipality said meetings with partner agencies have been effective and the top priority is “to keep critical infrastructure running, so we can continue to provide water, wastewater and emergency services to the community.
“Without these services in place, we could not allow residents to remain in their homes.
“While we are experiencing some challenges, between existing emergency generators (municipal and others) and the ATCO generator system and resources, we do believe we can maintain basic services to keep Jasper residents in their homes.”
ATCO hopes to complete its evaluation Thursday of the 18 structures damaged by wildfire, Mattern said. Once the area is deemed safe, Parks Canada will escort ATCO crews through.
“There are also access issues… due to the ongoing wildfire,” she said. “We don’t have a timeline as of yet.
“This isn’t days for full restoration; this is weeks.”
Power in the townsite has been on and off throughout the week, due to issues that arose from the nearby Chetamon Wildfire.
ATCO has been working to restore generator power ever since, but the process hasn’t been without challenges.
“The complexity of integrating generator power into a utility system to a community of this size and scale, is extremely challenging and our team of experts are working through these technicalities,” a post on ATCO’s website explained.
ATCO officials have said that once the power is restored, people need to continue to conserve energy. Generator power does not have the same reliability when powering from the Alberta grid.
The wildfire was still estimated to be about 5,500 hectares in size on Thursday.
“The Chetamon fire is still active and anticipated to become more intense in the coming days,” Ireland said, adding that without significant rain, further damage to the power supply infrastructure “is a real possibility.”
Alberta airtanker resources are being used to put air retardant lines down to restrict the fire’s growth to the northeast.
Parks Canada spokesperson Katie Ellsworth said the fire grew a little bit Wednesday and smoke conditions are forecast to pick up Thursday.
Ellsworth said there is potential for changing smoke conditions on Highway 16 as the wildfire changes, particularly in the afternoon. Parks Canada and RCMP are prepared to use traffic control measures if needed. Motorists are asked to consult Alberta 511.
Parks Canada also expanded some of the closures and reduced visitor services in Jasper National Park in part as a way to help conserve power and focus on critical services and wildfire management.
“Currently, the power supply is unreliable and even the incident command post is out of power” aside from the 911 service, Ellsworth said Thursday.
All reservable frontcountry campgrounds in Jasper National Park are closed and the majority of self-registration campgrounds are closed for the season.
Officials stressed there is still no risk to any communities at this time.
Significant winds on Wednesday also hampered efforts. They made direct fire suppression at the head of the active fire areas too dangerous for both firefighters and helicopters. However, officials said firefighters made a significant impact with indirect attack methods east of the wildfire. This, combined with water bucketing, slowed the growth of the wildfire south and eastward.
Airtankers were requested from Alberta Wildfire on Wednesday afternoon, which allowed retardant to be dropped on the fire. Officials said this will allow firefighters to work safely on the ground on Thursday.
Cooler temperatures are in the forecast Thursday, but officials warn they’re forecast to go up on the weekend and dry air will return.
Visitors are being told that now is not the time to come to Jasper National Park.
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