Power restored in Fort Resolution, N.W.T. early on Sunday

Power has been restored in Fort Resolution, N.W.T. after an extended power outage that left some without electricity or heat for around 14 hours. (Carla Ulrich/CBC)

By RCI, CBC News

Power has been fully restored in Fort Resolution, N.W.T. after an extended outage that left some residents without heat and electricity for 14 hours.

The Northwest Territories Power Corporation said that power was fully restored at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday, and the grid is currently stable.

The outage in Fort Resolution began at around 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Temperatures dropped to around -28 C during the outage.

Rosy Bjornson was among the residents who didn’t get their power back until about 3 a.m., leaving her family without heat, electricity or running water for over 13 hours. She has lived in Fort Resolution for her whole life, and said this is the longest power outage she could remember.

She said her family was able to stay in their house by wearing lots of extra layers. It helped that she always stores water in the house in case of emergencies.

Thank god it wasn’t colder, she said, adding that she is grateful for all of the workers who contributed to getting the power back on.

This marks the second extended power outage in the N.W.T.’s South Slave region in recent weeks. Last week, power outages in Fort Smith, N.W.T. left some without power for seven hours.

Crews still investigating outage cause, NTPC says

NTPC Chief Operating Officer Belinda Whitford told CBC on Sunday that while power is stable in Fort Resolution, crews are still investigating the cause of the outage.

NTPC was in the process of removing one of its generators from service when we experienced the voltage fluctuation that caused an outage, Whitford said.

She said that technicians who came into the community from Yellowknife during the night would stay in Fort Resolution for another few hours to find the cause of the outage and ensure the electricity grid stays stable.

Whitford said that the power grid in the South Slave will be more reliable when the Talston Hydro dam is back in service, and communities are no longer reliant solely on diesel generators.

Whitford said NTPC is currently planning to reopen the Talston Hydro Dam in late January or early February. The reopening of the dam, which is closed for renovations, has already been delayed by over a year.

With files from Jared Monkman