Town council wants to meet with Hydro One to reduce power outages

Powerlines along Meloche Road in Amherstburg.

Representatives from Hydro One have been asked to re-appear before Amherstburg town council regarding frequent power outages.

Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb originally put the motion forth as a notice of motion at the Nov. 10 meeting, leading it to be discussed as the Nov. 24 regular town council meeting. 

Gibb’s motion stated the residents and businesses of Amherstburg have experienced “an ongoing and unacceptable number of power interruptions and outages” and the “frequent electricity service interruptions have caused frustration, economic disruption and concern among residents, businesses and community organizations.”

It adds that Hydro One “is responsible for the delivery and maintenance of the local electricity distribution system that serves the Town of Amherstburg.” The motion continues by asking Hydro One to come to council and provide an explanation regarding the frequency and causes of power interruptions within the Town of Amherstburg; to outline any planned maintenance, upgrades, or infrastructure improvements intended to enhance the reliability of the local electricity delivery system; and to answer questions from town council regarding Hydro One’s service to the community.

“This has been a long-standing issue for the residents of Amherstburg,” Gibb said during the Nov. 24 meeting. “I think it’s time council reaches out and officially asks Hydro One to come and provide us some explanation why the power goes out on a beautiful day or, recently, in the Kingsbridge subdivision, I want to say if my memory serves me correctly, it flicked on and off a dozen times within three days.”

The deputy mayor said the information being sought includes why these types of outages are happening and whether they are occurring in other municipalities as well as Amherstburg.

“Everyone’s homes are full of high-end electronic equipment. As a business owner, when the power goes out it takes you 20 minutes to reboot your computer systems and your point-of-sales systems and it’s costing us productivity,” he said.

Planned maintenance and upgrades are other information being asked for.

“We know that once the economy gets back on the rails, this whole region is expected to grow. Do we have capacity to service these new homes and businesses that are coming?” Gibb added. “I think the people of Amherstburg would like some answers to those questions.”

Councillor Diane Pouget said she fully supported the motion, saying there are numerous complaints about people losing appliances due to outages. She said the town is part owner of Essex Powerlines, and notifications go out stating the time of the outage, that work crews have been sent, the number of customers impacted and the estimated time of restoration.

Pouget said the town is not notified by Hydro One on issues relating to power outages or tree trimming.

“We’re left out in the cold,” she said. “We cannot relay to our residents what is happening or why they’re having so many power outages. So I fully support Deputy Mayor Gibb’s resolution.”

Councillor Molly Allaire said she supports the motion, but “we got nowhere” the last time Hydro One came to town council. She said the town gets “amazing work” from Essex Powerlines but residents have to search online for Hydro One information.

“They’re not going to change anything for us,” said Allaire. “I’ll support (the motion) because I do want action and we can’t get action by just sitting here, but I have a feeling it’s going to be the same as last time.”

Mayor Michael Prue pointed out he is the chair of the Essex Powerlines board of directors and is familiar with the issue at that level. He said Essex Powerlines doesn’t produce the electricity and it is purchased by Hydro One.

“They have asked Hydro One repeatedly over the years to stop these flash-outs. Some of them last a second or two seconds. They don’t last very long,” he said. “But as everyone has said, they can cause havoc to equipment.”Prue added Hydro One is the provider to many people in Amherstburg and not part of Essex Powerlines. 

“I fully support this motion. I’d like to get to the bottom of it,” he said, “but all of my meetings that I have had as mayor with Hydro One have not resolved anything.”The mayor added he has also talked about wanting more hydro resources into Amherstburg.

“Today, if a new factory were to show up and say they want to build in Amherstburg and need a lot of power, Ontario Hydro will tell them the waiting time is approximately eight years,” said Prue. “So, a new factory wants to come in and do business here and you can’t see them for the dust. They’re running away. There’s no sense. They won’t do it. They’ll put all the power down to Windsor and now they’re running one into Leamington because Leamington needs it for some of the greenhouses. I said we could use some greenhouses too.”

Prue said he spoke with the Minister of Energy in a roundtable and he seemed “appreciative” of what he said, but heard no changes.

“The only thing I’ve heard is they (the provincial government) wants to take over Essex Power or force us to sell our shares, which is totally wrong,” said Prue. “I don’t hold out much hope for these guys. The only thing that could happen is that Essex Power has submitted a request to the Province of Ontario that we produce our own hydro.”

Prue said he supported the motion because “I want to watch them squirm again. We’ll see what they have to say.”

Town council wants to meet with Hydro One to reduce power outages

By Ron Giofu