Damaged equipment causes power outages in Ottawa as winter storm moves through

A Hydro Ottawa vehicle is seen in this undated photo. (CTV Ottawa)

Hydro Ottawa says damaged equipment was responsible for two power outages Saturday as a winter storm moved through the region.

An outage in the Foster Farm area cut power to more than 1,600 customers. Hydro Ottawa spokesperson Josée Larocque said a hydro pole near Dumaurier Avenue was damaged, so crews switched power off to facilitate repairs.

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According to Hydro Ottawa's outage map, power was restored by mid-afternoon. 

An outage in the Lees Avenue area is showing 333 customers without power as of 11:30 a.m. with an initial estimated restoration time of 3:30 p.m. Saturday that was later extended to 10 p.m.

Larocque said this outage was caused by a transformer fire. Restoration was delayed because of road conditions caused by the storm, she said. 

It's unclear if the damage to the equipment was caused by the storm.

Hydro Ottawa's outage map also showedan outage affected 11 customers at the corner of Huntmar Drive and Hazeldean Road, with a restoration time of 6:30 p.m. This outage was affecting some businesses in the area, according to Coun. Glen Gower.

Hydro One

Hydro One says it is responding to several outages in Ontario because of the weather, including more than 8,800 customers in eastern Ontario, largely along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

The largest of these outages is in Prince Edward County, affecting 7,300 customers.

Restoration times are anywhere between 6:30 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday.

Outaouais

Hydro Quebec is reporting several outages in the Outaouais region Saturday.

According to the utility's website, there are eight outages affecting 1,765 customers as of 4:30 p.m.

The outages are spread throughout the region, with one in Gatineau, three in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais and three in Pontiac. The largest outage is in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, where more than 1,300 customers are affected.

Estimated restoration times for some of the outages were unavailable. Others were expected to be restored by 5 p.m. or later Saturday.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Jackie Perez.