By: Christian Collington, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TheIFP.ca
Georgetown residents and businesses are being urged to reduce power use overnight on Saturday, Sept. 26 as Hydro One undertakes transmission work tied to the provincial Highway 413 project.
From 9 p.m. on Sept. 26 to 9 a.m. on Sept. 27, Hydro One will temporarily remove two main transmission lines from service.
The outage will significantly reduce the total power supply available to Georgetown and its surrounding areas for the 12-hour window.
While a full power outage is not currently anticipated, Halton Hills Hydro stated in a news release that if community energy demand exceeds the temporary supply limits, automated interruptions may be triggered to protect system stability.
Tracy Rehberg-Rawlingson, regulatory affairs manager at Halton Hills Hydro, explained in a statement that “from time to time, portions of the electricity grid need to be taken out of service to safely carry out essential maintenance, repairs, upgrades and construction.”
She added that “every effort is therefore made to minimize the impact” and that Halton Hills Hydro “will continue to co-ordinate with Hydro One on any transmission outages.”
Halton Hills Hydro advises residents to charge essential mobile devices and power banks ahead of 9 p.m. on Sept. 26, turn off pool and hot tub heaters overnight and keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut.
Residents relying on well water are encouraged to fill containers for drinking and flushing in advance, as Halton Hills Hydro notes that private well pumps will fail if line power drops.
For those who rely on electrically powered medical equipment, the utility company encourages residents to ensure backup battery power, or secondary arrangements, are verified prior to the work.
Halton Hills Hydro is also reminding drivers that if power fluctuations or outages affect local traffic signals, motorists must treat all impacted intersections as all-way stops.
Residents experiencing an isolated outage after the planned transmission window are asked to inspect their internal breaker panels before submitting an online outage report to Halton Hills Hydro.