DarkNL shook public confidence, says consumer advocate

Newfoundland and Labrador's consumer advocate wants Nalcor Energy to improve the way it communicates with the public about power outages. 

Tom Johnson spoke at the first Public Utilities Board hearing on Monday morning in St. John's. The hearings focus on the widespread blackouts that left thousands on the island without power last winter. 

• PUB hearings on DarkNL start in St. John's 

Johnson says that, while improvements have been made, the outages — commonly deemed DarkNL — have shaken public confidence. 

"My sense is that whenever it's cold now, people are wondering. People are thinking, 'Can I count on this system?'" said Johnson.

Johnson said it's not enough to hear about improvements — people want to see them firsthand.

"A part of that comes from good communications and making sure that people get the sense that you're levelling with them — and they're not being caught in the lurch," Johnson said.

Liberal leader Dwight Ball described the communication plan as 'a debacle.'

"Well it's fine to have a communications plan but the fact is, you've got to communicate it to the people of the province," Ball said. 

Hydro was also criticized for the way it handled an outage on the Avalon earlier this month when its new generator didn't kick in.

"In March, we had children that were on school buses when Hydro had known the night before that they probably could not meet their generation requirements," said Ball. 

Meanwhile, Newfoundland Hydro said the situation in March can not compare to the events of last winter — in March, there was no issue until a combustion turbine failed to start.