Fort Smith experienced an extended power outage lasting approximately four and a half hours Monday evening while nearby communities had power restored within one hour. Customers on the Halston Hydro line were switched from hydro electric power to diesel overnight while the issue is being assessed.
Doug Prendergast, who is the communications manager at NWT’s Power Corp, offered assurance that the crew was working to restore power to all customers.
“The outage began at 3:50 p.m. Most of the community has had power restored but there are still customers who are without power. Our team continues to work to get power restored to remaining customers,” Prendergast told True North FM on Monday at about 7:15 pm.
“Employees continue to work to get power restored. No ETA can be provided at this time,” said Prendergast.
About one hour later, power was restored to all Fort Smith customers.
“Power was restored to the last remaining customers at approximately 8:30 pm,” NWT. Power Corp. posted about 15 minutes after the lights came back on for Fort Smith customers.
The company also notified customers on the Talston line that they would remain on diesel overnight.
There is no word yet on the cause, but Prendergast explained an investigation is underway.
“When we gather more information about the cause of today’s event, we will provide a further update,” NWT Power Corp said.
True North FM reached out to the company for more details and will share those once they become available.
The power outages began Monday in the late afternoon.
“We are aware of the outage impacting all communities. The cause is currently unknown but efforts are underway to get power restored as soon as possible,” NWT Power Corp announced at 4 p.m.
At about 5 p.m. NWT Power Corp announced that they would transfer to diesel generation for Fort Smith and Hay River.
“Efforts to switch over to diesel generation have been successful in Hay River but additional work is required to restore power in Fort Smith. Employees are working as quickly and safely as they can to make the switch to diesel in Fort Smith. The outage occurred when the Taltson hydro unit tripped offline. The cause of the trip is under investigation,” NWT Power Corp posted on social media.
At about 6 p.m. this evening the Power Corp notified customers in Fort Smith that the power outage had not been addressed as yet and work was ongoing on the Talston Hydro line.
“Work continues to switch the community to diesel generation. Technical issues have slowed the process, unfortunately. At this time, we cannot provide an estimate on when power will be restored. Further updates will be provided as soon as new information is available,” NWT Power Corp posted.
In the city of Yellowknife and Dettah, hydro electric power was restored by about 5:22 p.m., after an outage that lasted approximately 5 minutes, said NWT Power Corp in their public notification on social media.
