Residents of Hawkesbury will face another major power outage during the extreme cold snap this Saturday (February 4)

Hydro Hawkesbury has announced a planned power outage for Saturday morning (February 4), after the town was hit with multiple power outages from Thursday evening into Friday morning. The outage will occur on Saturday, February 4, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. to allow for an equipment inspection.

The utility’s equipment manufacturer will be on site to inspect and test equipment to determine the cause of the interruption. According to Hawkesbury Hydro, in order to conduct the inspection, the manufacturer must proceed in a similar climatic condition (extreme cold) that caused the breakdown.

Hydro Hawkesbury has announced that power was restored to all of its customers at 5:56 a.m. on Friday, February 3, after the town experienced multiple outages during a 24-hour period in which temperatures dropped to as low as -25 degrees Celsius. In a notice on its website, the utility said the situation was unpredictable and the company needs to find out why it occurred.

According to the Town of Hawkesbury, an extensive power outage throughout the town, which began early in the morning on Wednesday, February 1, was caused by mechanical failure. Power had been restored across all of Hawkesbury by 3 p.m. Wednesday.

However Hydro Hawkesbury confirmed a further power outage in town later that evening. According to the company, 343 of its customers were without power overnight on Thursday, February second and Friday, February 3, The outage was in the area east of Hawkesbury between Tupper Street, County Road 17, and Front Road, including the neighbourhood around Miner Park. The Robert Hartley Sports Complex in Hawkesbury remained open 24 hours for anyone wanting to stay warm, have a hot shower, use the internet, or charge electronic devices. Power was restored at 5:56 a.m. on February 3.

The Town of Hawkesbury announced it will keep the Robert Hartley Sports Complex open for 24 hours a day until further notice so residents can stay warm, use showers, and charge cell phones, computers, and medical devices. The town requests that residents do not call the town hall or Hydro Hawkesbury, so as not to disrupt efforts to manage the situation.

The Review will continue to follow this story. Updates will also be provided on The Review’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/vkhreview.

– with files from James Morgan