Southern Saskatchewan hit by massive blackout
The widespread power outage happened around 4 a.m. By 10 a.m. power to most regions had been restored, said Larry Christie, a spokesman for SaskPower, the government-run utility provider.
“Electrical system instability” created by the storm in the midwestern U.S. caused the generating units at two power stations in Saskatchewan and several other transmission facilities in locations across the province to go offline, said Christie. The SaskPower system is connected to the same power grid as the one affected by the storm in the U.S.
Christie couldnÂ’t estimate how many customers were affected by the power outage but confirmed it hit large portions of Regina, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Yorkton, Prince Albert and many rural areas. Most residents in Saskatoon were spared, Christie said.
“We continue to work to try to understand what took place here in Saskatchewan and whether or not everything functioned perfectly,” said Christie.
SaskPower serves more than 441,000 customers and operates about 154,269 km of power transmission lines.
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MONTREAL - Quebec Premier François Legault has inaugurated the la Romaine hydroelectric complex on the province's North Shore.
The newly inaugurated Romaine hydroelectric complex could serve as a model for future projects that are sorely needed in the province, Legault said.
"It brings me a lot of pride. It is truly the symbol of Quebec ingenuity," he said as he opened the vast power plant.
Legault was accompanied at today's event by Jean Charest, who was Quebec premier when construction began in 2009, as well as Hydro-Québec president and CEO Michael Sabia.
La Romaine is comprised of four power stations and is the largest…
