Enmax will pay out almost $1 million after mistakenly installing a commercial transformer in a building where 300 people are without a home for up to 10 days.
The publicly owned utility will set aside $3,000 per suite to reimburse Mayfair Place residents who lost electronics during a power surge Sunday, said Enmax president Gary Holden.
"We’re going to make sure that everyone who lives here is taken care of, that they’re not out of pocket any monies for the surge," said Holden, adding the first priority is getting people back into their apartments. The building owner and City are also helping with grocery and restaurant vouchers for residents.
The building’s two 50-year-old transformers — one is a commercial-level 220-volt transformer and the other is a residential 120-volt device — were replaced on the weekend because of their age. However, both replacement transformers sent to the site were more powerful versions.
"We know the transformer that was put in was incorrect. We’re still investigating exactly how that happened," he said.
Holden said both transformers look the same.
"It would be not a surprise to me that the people installing one would expect it to be exactly the right one and they just put it in routinely," he told reporters standing in front of the Elbow Drive S.W. building.
Ken Uzeloc, acting director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said residents will not be allowed to move back in for an estimated three to 10 days.
"Three being the best-case scenario, 10 or more being worst case," said Uzeloc.
The city put up 265 residents in hotel rooms around the city on Sunday night. Others stayed with friends or family. Many of the apartment dwellers have re-entered their homes to collect valuables.
Crews continue to work on restoring power to the businesses at the site and then will focus their attention to the apartments.
"They will have to go breaker by breaker and suite by suite checking through each suite’s electrical outlets for any possible damage," said Uzeloc.
The fire department has found no evidence of any fires caused by the surge.
Residents said they were grateful for Enmax’s reimbursement, but frustrated by the inconvenience.
Alex Godinez said the surge damaged his three televisions, two new PlayStation 3s, two computers, as well as alarm clocks and lamps.
"Pretty much anything that was plugged in, gone," he said.
He doubts $3,000 will cover the cost of everything he lost.
"No, definitely not, but it’s a start," said Godinez.
Dan Melesko, who lives on the eighth floor, said the surge happened quickly.
"I was getting ready for NFL Sunday, like most guys are, and all of a sudden, I heard a pop, pop, which came from my bathroom.
"So I ran to my bathroom to take a look and two of the four lights above the vanity were burned out, like popped. By the time I left the washroom, and went to the living room, my TV was smoking. And I mean smoking."
He then grabbed a broom to try to pull the plugs out of the sockets without touching them.
"I wasn’t about to yank it out physically. By the time I did that, my computer mainframe box was smoking and that’s when I said, ‘OK, this is definitely a problem now.’ "
Though Melesko has renters’ insurance, he figures half the residents don’t and said it was a source of financial stress.
When Enmax informed people they would be reimbursed, Melesko said, "There was such relief in the room. You could feel it."
Business owners on the other hand are left wondering what they will do while waiting for the building to be repaired. They’ve been told they’ll be forced out until at least Friday.
It will mean juggling hundreds of patients for medical offices in the building like Mayfair Diagnostics and Radiology Consultants.
"We’ve managed to rebook a lot of our patients. Unfortunately there’s a few studies that are only done at this location," says Dr. Phil Pattison from the clinic.
Furniture store Ethan Allan, which operates from the main floor of the building, has managed to remain open during the ordeal thanks to operating on a different meter. They say they were told by Enmax that electrical work would be going on Saturday night through Sunday morning and were advised to unplug electrical equipment and turn-off breakers as a precaution. Residents say they were made aware of the work, but were not told to unplug any electronics.
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