Parts of Sanirajak, Nunavut, have been without power since Sunday
Rolling outages to continue Wednesday as crews work to fix power plant
Residents in Sanirajak, Nunavut, are still grappling with rotating power outages, days after power initially went out in the community.
Since Sunday, parts of the community — and, at times, the entire community of about 900 people — have been without power due to problems with the power plant. Residents have been going to the school for hot meals and to warm up as temperatures dip well below zero.
Sanirajak was previously known as Hall Beach.
Wednesday morning, with power still out to areas of the community, temperatures hovered around -9 C. Wind chill was -17 C in the morning and expected to fall to -25 C in the afternoon.
It wasn't much warmer earlier in the week, with temperatures fluctuating between -6 C during the days and -17 C during the nights.
In updates posted to its Facebook page, the Qulliq Energy Corporation said Sunday that a maintenance issue at the power plant initially knocked out power.
At the time, it said it would require a three-hour emergency outage Monday to investigate the issue.
On Monday, the energy corporation said maintenance crews found an issue with the plant. They restored power to some customers but had to fly in a crew of electricians and linesmen from other communities to restore power to the rest of the community.
They had to charter a flight, and on Tuesday the corporation said they were delayed "due to transportation fuel supply issues." Workers eventually arrived in the community, but another issue with the power plant system prevented them from restoring power immediately.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the energy corporation said crews would be "using rotating power outages to share the current power supply with the community while they continue to safely restore power."
Benedict Nleya, the acting director for the Qulliq Energy Corporation, said Tuesday that they couldn't give an exact time the power will be entirely restored, but expected needed parts to arrive that evening.
He said crews would work through the night trying to restore power.
On Wednesday morning, Qulliq posted that it's sending more crews and equipment into Sanirajak to help. They will continue with the rotating outages until at least the afternoon.