Northern Alberta county under state of emergency due to natural gas disruption

A large swath of northern Alberta was under a state of emergency Friday night due to low natural gas pressure and system outages.

Mackenzie County, which borders British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Wood Buffalo National Park, declared the emergency at 4:30 p.m. Friday, citing "extremely low natural gas pressures through the region," the county said.

The state of emergency remains in effect Saturday morning. 

The county advised all residents to use alternate heating sources, if available, and said communities south of La Crête were already experiencing natural gas outages.

"If you do not have alternate sources of heat, we encourage you to stay with friends or family," the county said in a statement Friday evening.

"A reception centre has also been established at the La Crête Mennonite Heritage Centre for others that have been displaced."

More than 11,000 residents affected

More than 11,000 people live in Mackenzie County, according to 2016 census data. The county is expected to remain under an extreme cold weather warning throughout the weekend, according to Environment Canada.

"The problem is expected to persist until the temperature rises," Alberta Emergency Alert said in a statement Friday evening.

Mackenzie County is Alberta's largest county by area.

"At this point we are asking that all natural gas users within the region limit their usage as low as possible," Mackenzie County said. "This will help gas reach the end of the line and prevent additional houses from freezing."

Local natural gas provider Northern Lights Gas Co-op said in a statement Friday its system was experiencing low pipeline pressure and asked residents to keep natural gas use to an absolute minimum.

'This is not a permanent solution'

Just before 6 p.m., the county issued an update saying natural gas trucks have been feeding into the local gas pipeline system but are still "struggling to keep up with the fuel demand of our region, leaving some residences without any natural gas."

Another gas truck, along with two compressors are due to arrive in the region around midnight, with an additional "support compressor" due to arrive from outside the province, the county said.

"Although we are hoping this will stabilize the situation, this is not a permanent solution."

La Crête is approximately 685 kilometres north of Edmonton. 

Residents are encouraged to call the county's Emergency Services Hotline at 780-927-3718 with questions about the natural gas situation.