Hydro-Québec expects to fix remaining power outages from Thursday storm by end of day

MONTREAL — Hydro-Québec says it expects to repair the remaining power outages from this week’s snowstorm by the end of the day today.

The utility reported there were around 4,700 customers in Quebec without power as of 12:30 p.m., down from around 297,000 at the height of the storm Thursday and 49,000 Friday morning.

Hydro-Québec spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty says some customers have been without power for between one and two days.

He says most of the remaining outages due to the storm are in Quebec’s Laurentians region, north of Montreal, where the electricity grid suffered more damage from fallen branches and trees.

Hydro-Québec crews in some cases have had to replace poles carrying power lines.

Batty says an abundance of smaller outages, each affecting between one and five customers, explains why it has taken Hydro-Québec crews so long to restore power to parts of the region.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2024. 

The Canadian Press