Windy winter storm puts hydro utilities on high alert

Hydro utilities say preparations for the winter storm hitting eastern Ontario in the next 48 hours is aided by recent experience including last spring's derecho storm.

Joseph Muglia, director of system operations and grid automation at Hydro Ottawa, said standby crews have been arranged in 24-hour rotations to respond to any issues.

"We're hoping that we don't have long term outages, but it's always possible," said Muglia.

A winter storm watch issued Wednesday remains in effect Thursday for the areas around Ottawa, Gatineau, Belleville, Quinte, Northumberland, Brockville, Leeds and Grenville, Kingston, Prince Edward County, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and  Prescott and Russell.

On Thursday, rainfall warnings were issued for the Belleville, Quinte, Northumberland, Brockville, Leeds and Grenville, Kingston, Prince Edward County, Stirling, Tweed and South Frontenac areas, announced Environment Canada early Thursday morning. About 20 to 30 millimetres of rain and melting snow is expected by noon Friday, with the possibility of localized flooding in low-lying areas.

Winter storm warnings were also issued early Thursday for the Renfrew, Pembroke, Barry's Bay, Peterborough, Smiths Falls, Lanark and Sharbot Lake areas.

"Snow, heavy at times, is expected to begin [Thursday] evening. As a cold front pushes through the area on Friday afternoon, rapidly falling temperatures and wind gusts to 70 km/h will result in local blowing snow. Snow and local blowing snow will persist into Saturday," Environment Canada said.

"We have put a lot of extra upfront work into planning for this. We will try to minimize outages as much as possible," said Muglia. 

Hydro One spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa said wind gusts exceeding 80 km/h can damage infrastructure. 

"We know based on past experience that when you get into high winds, you tend to have outages," said Baccega Rosa.

More than 200,000 people in the Ottawa region were left without power after the May 2022 derecho. In September 2018, tornadoes sent six people in the hospital and left 3,600 Hydro Ottawa customers without power for a weekend. 

Hydro One continues to review its infrastructure as "the effects of climate change on our system" change, said Baccega Rosa, "whether that is taller, stronger, different material poles, or looking at how stations are designed,"

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation said it is preparing to keep roads as clear as possible during the snowfall. In a statement, the ministry said it has "over 1,100 pieces of equipment ready to be deployed."

It is also using anti-icing liquid proactively on roads in advance of winter storms.