SOPHIE DEMERS

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITATIVE

MRC PONTIAC – Many Pontiac municipalities are experiencing an abnormal amount of power outages. Specifically, residents of Sheenboro, Chichester, Waltham, L’Isle-aux- Allumettes, and Mansfield-et-Pontefract are frustrated with the unexpected loss of power.

Hydro Québec has not yet provided specific numbers for 2024 for each municipality; however, according to their data, the average duration of service interruptions per customer this year has been 20.9 hours. There have been 14 outages that have exceeded 24 hours so far this year. Of the 14, Hydro-QC states that 12 were due to major weather events and fallen vegetation, also noting that 12 outages affected fewer than 10 customers each.

Corey Spence, Mayor of L’Isle-Aux- Allumettes, explained that normally the affected municipalities are synchronized with Ontario’s power grid. Due to maintenance on the other province’s grid, the municipalities have been solely relying on the Hydro-QC network.

“This shift has resulted in frequent and prolonged power outages, underscoring the unreliability of Hydro-QC’s network in our region—a situation that is untenable in today’s world,” said Spence in a detailed Facebook post.

Mansfield Mayor Sandra Armstrong talked about the challenges of having no running water when the power goes out. Because the municipal water system runs on hydro, only those on their own well with a generator have water during outages. “These outages can cause damages for residents.” she added.

Another problem that Spence and Armstrong noted is the communications issue with Hydro-QC when an outage occurs. “Whenever we have an outage, we would like to report to citizens the most up-to-date information. Hydro-QC gave us a phone number to communicate with an internal team; however, when we called, they did not have the most up-to-date information for the area,” said Spence, adding the information available online is rarely up-to-date or correct.

The power outage issue has been ongoing. After last February’s outages, Hydro-QC proposed solutions. According to Spence, these efforts did not improve the situation, therefore a meeting was set up between Hydro-QC and the MRC Pontiac Council of Mayors on July 10.

During the meeting, the mayors were able to voice their frustrations to the five representatives from Hydro-QC who were present. Pontiac MNA André Fortin was also in attendance.

A potential solution is to bring a substation closer to the affected area. Although this would solve many of the problems, it is a costly solution. A local resident who is knowledgeable about the area proposed a cheaper solution. “The solution would require an equipment upgrade closer to where the generating stations are located, from my understanding,” said Spence. Hydro Quebec will explore the solution with their engineers. Mayors are hopeful for a response by the end of summer or early fall.

“I’m optimistic about how the meeting went,” said Spence. “I think it’s important that the residents know that both the municipalities and Hydro-QC are aware of the problem. We are doing the best we can. It’s a battle, but we think we are going in the right direction to make Hydro-QC do the right thing for our area.