Widespread power outage closes down community for hours

Tim Brody - Editor

Equipment failure inside a Hydro One substation left urban Sioux Lookout and Alcona in the dark for several hours on Oct. 16.
The power went out at 3:15 a.m. Power was fully restored at 1:27 p.m.
Deanne Kulchyski, President and CEO of Sioux Lookout Hydro Inc. shared, “The outage affected our customers coming off the F3 feeder which starts at the Distribution Station on Pelican Falls Road so feeds Pelican Falls School, and goes across (underneath via submarine cable) Pelican Lake to West Point Cove to feed the urban town and north to the airport and Alcona. To the south(east) it feeds Sturgeon and ends at the Forest Inn. The customers beyond the Forest Inn are fed by a different feeder and therefore were not affected.”
Due to the power outage, schools in Sioux Lookout were closed for the day and businesses were closed for the duration of the outage.
Kulchyski further clarified, “The outage was due to  the F3 reclosure failing inside the distribution station. Hydro One had a spare reclosure in the station that they were able use to connect our F3 feeder and get the power back on for everyone.”
Sioux Lookout Hydro shared through their Facebook page that afternoon, after power had been restored, “We apologize for the inconvenience of the outage and anyone who experienced their power going off and on. Thank you all for your understanding. We have the best customers!”
Kulchyski concluded, “I think that my staff should be commended on their dedication to having the situation remedied as safely and quickly as they could, as well as keeping our customers informed the entire time.  It is never easy to determine the cause/origin of an outage, and the investigative work done by our Operations Manager and  the crew was very well done. I’d also like to thank Hydro One for responding very quickly when we realized the outage may have been caused by a problem with their equipment at the station.”