Newfoundland Power outage caused by vandals

Newfoundland Power substation vandalism disrupted power during a winter storm after a transformer was shot, causing an outage, oil spill, and safety risks in Torbay, Flatrock, and Pouch Cove; RCMP seek tips, $5,000 reward.

St. John’s, NL -- Newfoundland Power is advising the general public of an act of vandalism at its Pulpit Rock Substation in Torbay.

The vandalism occurred recently in the early morning hours and left approximately 5,000 customers in the Torbay, Flatrock and Pouch Cove areas in Newfoundland without power during a winter storm. It appears that one of the two power transformers located at the substation was intentionally shot at, causing extensive damage to the transformer and an oil spill.

Gary Smith, Vice President of Customer Operations and Engineering for Newfoundland Power calls the incident particularly alarming. “This action was deliberate and taken without any regard for the consequences,” Smith says.

Vandalism not only compromises the electricity system, it creates a serious safety risk for Newfoundland Power employees, contractors and the vandals themselves.

“Our customers rely on us to deliver safe, reliable service, 24 hours every day,” says Smith. “Besides the power outage in the middle of a winter storm, the environmental impact and the cost, our primary concern is safety.”

Newfoundland Power will pay $5,000 to any individual for the information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person, or persons, responsible for this crime.

Anyone with information regarding this incident, or any act of theft or vandalism to electrical equipment, is encouraged to contact their local Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment office, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary detachment or Crime Stoppers.

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