Restoring power in eastern P.E.I. remains a struggle

Power went out for many in storm on Sunday

Image | Power line worker in snow

Caption: Where snow-covered branches have not been cleared around lines new problems are emerging. (Randy McAndrew/CBC)

While Maritime Electric crews worked through the night in eastern P.E.I. power came on for some and went out for others, as the utility struggled to recover from a storm Sunday.
More snow is falling Wednesday morning, and schools are closed. UPEI and provincial civil service offices are also delaying opening.
As dawn approached Wednesday there were about 1,500 customers without power, about 100 more than there were Tuesday morning.
"We had fluctuations of outages throughout the night but we made progress," said utility spokeswoman Kim Griffin in an emailed update.
"It is challenging but our crews are focused and determined at their work."
A combination of ice and wet snow and high winds wreaked havoc on power lines, and when the snow has not been cleared new problems are arising.

The utility is still hoping to have power restored for everyone by Thursday.
A full list of communities with power outages is available on Maritime Electric's website(external link).