REGINA - The recent frost in southern Saskatchewan has been causing problems for SaskPower on Friday.
“The southern part of the province has had some pretty consistent weather that has been ripe for frost buildup on everything,” said Scott McGregor, a consultant for media relations and issues management for SaskPower.
“The lack of sun, the excessive humidity and the warmer temperatures have all made it a perfect breeding ground for a build-up of frost, not just on our infrastructure but on everything.”
At the peak, around 10,000 customers were without power. SaskPower has been restoring electricity to customers in pretty large chunks, McGregor said. As of 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon, about 1,100 customers were still without power.
“Our crews are still working to get those customers restored,” said McGregor.
He noted the Crown corporation expects to have power restored to all affected customers by the end of Friday. The weather has co-operated, so it hasn’t slowed crews down.
“There are a few different outages that our crews are currently working on, so they all probably have their own unique challenges and considerations,” said McGregor.
At one time, there was roughly 3,300 customers without power in or close to Estevan. By 4 p.m. on Friday, that number was down to 64. McGregor said the remaining affected ratepayers were in an area southeast of the city.
There shouldn’t be anyone without electricity within city limits, he said. If there is, McGregor asked them to call the outage centre.
Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Carlyle, Oxbow and other communities have also been affected.
“Wherever there has been very heavy fog buildup in the past few days, we’ve seen some outages correspond with that,” said McGregor.
McGregor noted that in these situations, there’s always a risk for downed power lines and infrastructure damage. If anyone encounters a downed line or other issues, please keep back a safe distance and call 310-2020 to get a technician out there as quickly as possible.
“The line might not look energized, but it very well might be, so keeping a safe distance is very important.”
