Another outage in Richmond Hill, cold and salt contributing factors

Pole washing can't be done by PowerStream until it's warmer


Yorkregion.com
March 23, 2015
By Kim Zarzour

You’re not imagining it, there have been more power outages lately, and you can blame winter’s wicked weather.

If you have struggled, in this year’s consistently sub-zero temperatures, to keep your car clean from the constant deluge of salt and sand, then you have a pretty good idea of what hydro workers are dealing with, too.

During a bad winter, there’s far more residue on the roads and bad weather means it’s that much more difficult to get your car cleaned.

Hydro poles, though, are another matter. They really don’t like all that road salt residue.

When it accumulates and is mixed with melting snow and ice, they can catch fire - which is what has happened several times throughout the GTA in recent weeks.

PowerStream spokesperson Daloris Grohman said she is not yet aware of what caused today’s outage that left 8,000 Richmond Hill customers without service this morning, but many outages this month can be blamed on the pole-fire phenomenon and cold temperatures.

There are about 40,000 hydro poles in PowerStream’s territory and in the spring, fall and during mid-winter thaws, crews are sent out with high-pressure wash trucks to clean away the build-up.

For the clean-up to be effective, the crews need temperatures to rise above 4 degrees Celsius, Grohman says.

But this winter didn’t hold a January or February thaw, she said, and bad weather meant even more sand and salt being dumped on roads - especially major thoroughfares where PowerStream’s larger feeder lines are located.

That’s why you may have been one of 25,000 customers in the dark earlier this month, when 13 pole fires resulted in outages for Barrie, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Markham and Vaughan, or again Saturday, March 14 when 30,000 customers in Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill lost power.

There’s no easy fix, Grohman said, but the hydro company is attempting to monitor weather more closely and keep crews on standby to wash the insulators located on major roadways as soon as conditions are favourable.

PowerStream is also investigating the types and ages of poles and line hardware that were involved in fires to see if improvements can be made.

To check on any outages, go to powerstream.ca or if you experience a power loss, call 1-877-777-3810.