Power restored in Glace Bay after separate outages

Around 5,000 of residents of Glace Bay, N.S., and surrounding areas experienced two power outages after an issue with a substation transformer, according to Nova Scotia Power. 

The outages prompted the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to open a comfort centre at the Miners Forum as Nova Scotia Power crews installed a new mobile transformer. Power was restored shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday.

Glace Bay resident Jaginder Singh left his home early Saturday to go to a restaurant in Sydney to stay warm after temperatures in his home fell below freezing during the second outage.

Singh said outages happen too often in the area and he blamed Nova Scotia Power. 

"This is a power monopoly by a single company," Singh told CBC. "It always makes a profit but the end result is dismal because it's too frequent, these outages.

"It causes a lot of inconvenience." 

Nova Scotia Power apologized to its customers affected by the outages.

"Our crews worked through the night to address an issue with a substation transformer," according to a statement.

"A mobile transformer unit was brought in to restore power to customers until the damaged transformer can be fixed. We appreciate our customers' patience as crews worked to reconnect customers as safely and quickly as possible."