For immediate release March 1, 2023<\/p>\n
Gatineau, March 1, 2023 \u2013 <\/strong>Today, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec presented its preliminary analysis of the causes of the outage that occurred on February 4 and 5, 2023, to the mayors of L\u2019Isle-aux- Allumettes, Chichester, Sheenborro, Mansfield-et-Pontefract and Waltham, to the Prefect of the Pontiac MRC and to the Member of the National Assembly for Pontiac. During the meeting, the actions taken and to be taken in the future to prevent a similar situation were also discussed.<\/p>\n For several reasons, the power system that serves Upper Pontiac is synchronized with the Ontario system. If needed, it can also be synchronized with and supplied by the Qu\u00e9bec system. In either case, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec uses the energy it purchases from Waltham and Chutes- Coulonge generating stations, which belong to Evolugen, to supply much of the electricity distributed to its customers.<\/p>\n On Saturday, February 4, when the system supplying the Upper Pontiac was synchronized with the Ontario system, events that occurred on the Ontario system triggered a major outage. Despite several attempts and access to Waltham generating station\u2019s production, Hydro- Qu\u00e9bec was unable to restore power. At that time, Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s electricity consumption was reaching a historic peak due to the extremely cold weather. Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec tried to supply the sector with the Chutes-Coulonge generating station, as well available to supply, and the Cadieux substation located further east, but this attempt was also unsuccessful. Therefore, customers in the sector were asked to limit their heating to one room per building to help facilitate service restoration. On Sunday evening, February 5, thanks to operations performed by Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec teams and the cooperation of local residents, power was restored to the entire sector. The generators that had just been dispatched to the site did not even need to be used.<\/p>\n To ensure grid redundancy and robustness, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec has developed a three-pronged approach in response to this situation. First, a procedure was developed to supply this sector using the Qu\u00e9bec system should issues arise on the Ontario system. Second, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec established connecting links that allow power to be added via generators dispatched to the site. Finally, the trip thresholds of the breakers installed on the power line from Cadieux substation were raised, meaning more electricity can be transported on that power line. These three approaches will contribute to the redundancy and robustness of the power system in the Upper Pontiac.<\/p>\n Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec crews are currently patrolling the entire sector affected by the outages of February 4 to determine what additional work would be needed to help ensure power is restored more quickly in the future. Other solutions are also being studied. Evolugen continues to cooperate fully with Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec in this matter.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past few years, considerable efforts have been invested to improve the quality of the service in the Upper Pontiac, including extensive vegetation control and technical upgrades. We understand the community\u2019s concerns following the recent major outage. We remain steadf ast in our commitment to continue our efforts to improve service reliability with the same energy and determination,\u201d noted Alain Paquette, Advisor \u2013 Community Relations at Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n – 30 –<\/p>\n Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec Community Relations For immediate release March 1, 2023 HYDRO-QU\u00c9BEC ADDRESSES THE OUTAGE THAT OCCURRED IN THE UPPER PONTIAC ON FEB. 4 AND 5, 2023 Gatineau, March 1, 2023 \u2013 Today, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec presented its preliminary analysis of the causes of the outage that occurred on February 4 and 5, 2023, to the mayors of L\u2019Isle-aux- Allumettes, Chichester, Sheenborro, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nConfiguration of the power system in the Upper Pontiac<\/h4>\n
Extreme cold and record power consumption<\/h4>\n
Increased redundancy and robustness<\/h4>\n
On-site patrols<\/h4>\n
\nLanaudi\u00e8re, Laurentides, Laval and Outaouais<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"