'We won't stop': NB Power works to restore remaining 3,000 customers by weekend

NB Power director Bernard Roy says the utility is doing everything it can to restore power by the weekend to the more than 3,000 still waiting on the Acadian Peninsula.

Roy said NB Power is confident the majority of households and businesses will get their power back, but complex outages to some customers because of damaged equipment may delay restoration efforts.  

It's Day 10 for customers still without electricity on the Acadian Peninsula. 

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Roy said NB Power was happy to see the number of outages going down, but crews are still working hard to see no customers without power. 

"We keep working on it, and we won't stop until we've restored power to all our customers." 

The outages that remain are spread among a number of communities including Pigeon Hill, Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël and Lamèque.

"There are some in smaller localities and obviously in those communities there are outages that are isolated and will require more work and more effort to get to," said Roy. 

Ice still a challenge

Roy said the repair crews have been fortunate the weather has been good the past few day to help with restoration efforts, but falling temperatures are a concern. 

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"There are still challenges, there is still ice on some of our facilities — a heavy coating of ice. In some cases we still have to remove damaged equipment out of the way, so we can reinstall new equipment and re-energize areas." 

Roy said he had never seen such a thick coating of ice on NB Power infrastructure before. 

"Yesterday we measured a piece of ice that fell off some of our facilities at three and half inches — and that's a week later. There's a lot of ice." 

Work to reinstall broken power poles continued Friday in Lamèque and to run new wire in other areas. 

"In some case we have damaged transformers that we have to replace and once we've done all that, we have to reconnect all the facilities and customers loops." 

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When asked about the number of damaged and broken hydro poles and whether the new ones would hold up in future storms, Roy said he was taking a philosophical approach.

"Not many people have won many matches against Mother Nature," he said. "We are reminded of that constantly." 

Roy said the infrastructure was sound in the area of the Acadian Peninsula where the worst damage occurred. 

"I've been in that area for the past few days and the amount of ice and conditions that the system experienced is what caused the outages, not poor infrastructure." 

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NB Power and the provincial government reminds those still without power to exercise caution when trying to heat their homes using generators or other equipment. Two people have died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning and 42 people have been hospitalized.