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Wasaga Distribution

About Outages

What to do during an outage

Wasaga Distribution Inc. is committed to providing our customers with safe and reliable electricity. However, power outages or electrical emergencies can occur without warning and we encourage you to plan ahead and be prepared.

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Reasons for Outages

Wasaga Distribution Inc. is continuing to expand and upgrade our electricity grid to help improve service reliability and resiliency throughout the Town. However, power outages are still a possibility.

There are several causes of power outages:

Strong storms (high winds, snow, and ice) can cause trees, branches, or other objects to fall on power lines resulting in outages. Lightning storms can damage distribution equipment, also resulting in power outages.

Animals such as birds, squirrels, and raccoons from time to time come into contact with a piece of energized electrical equipment, resulting in a power outage.

Occasionally, underground cables get damaged by individuals who accidentally dig into them. This can lead to a power outage. It is the law to call before you dig. Cable failures are difficult and timely to repair.

Wasaga Distribution inspects and maintains its equipment regularly, however sometimes equipment can reach its end of life prior to us replacing it. This can result in an outage depending on the nature of the equipment.

Wasaga Distribution notifies the customer in advance of any power interruptions due to planned maintenance or plant upgrade activity. Our Customer Service department works with affected customers to plan the outage around the schedules in order to minimize disruption.

Vehicle collisions with utility poles or equipment can cause outages.

Outage Prevention

We work year-round to maintain, repair, and upgrade Wasaga Distribution’s electricity system to ensure the reliability of your electricity service.

Here are some of the more common programs we perform on a cycle or as-needed basis:

  • Tree trimming programs to proactively identify and manage vegetation growth that may come into contact with overhead power lines.
  • Visually inspect power lines and equipment to identify issues and take preventative measures before they fail.
  • Install lightning arrestors to prevent damage to equipment due to lightning strikes.
  • Install switches to sectionalize feeder circuits into smaller segments and deploy distribution automation and smart grid practices.
  • Collect outage information and statistics that allow us to pinpoint problem areas in the system. We analyze outages and implement corrective measures as required. This may include additional tree trimming, maintenance activities on a particular power line or area, system reconfiguration, installing automatic devices, building new infrastructure, or replacing end-of-life equipment.