by Sylene Argent
During a special meeting on Monday evening, Essex Council had the chance to ask questions regarding momentary power-outages experienced in the Hydro One service area.
Toward the end of last August, representatives of Hydro One attended a meeting, at the request of the previous Term of Council. Residents were able to air their frustrations with power-flickers and outages.
“At that time, we had power-outages, flickering in our Hydro One service area,” Essex CAO Doug Sweet explained, noting representatives of Hydro One did attend a meeting and provided information to Council.
The Representatives of Hydro One were asked to return, but with the Municipal Election last fall, and with the utility reaching out to customers asking for details of outages, it was thought it would be better for the reps to return when more data was available.
Maalika Kara, Manager of Community Relations for Hydro One, spoke of the immediate steps taken since that last meeting to improve reliability for the Colchester and Harrow residents it serves.
“We understand power interruptions, even brief flickering of lights, can be frustrating for our customers,” Kara said.
Lei Zhu, Senior Manager of Distribution, said Hydro One continues to investigate issues and investing to resolve flicker and momentary outage issues that customers in Harrow and Colchester report.
“We acknowledge the continued issues being experienced by the customers and appreciate your reporting efforts,” Zhu said. “This data is helping us drive towards solutions. We understand it is frustrating, it’s inconvenient – among other feelings that this has caused, and we will continue to invest in our system to address this issue.”
The internal data and the resident reporting indicate the outages are mostly the result of momentary events, affecting the Kingsville M1, which services the Harrow and Colchester customers, Zhu explained.
It is industry practice, he said, for rural distribution systems to allow short, momentary interruptions in order to minimize longer interruptions, he added.
In February, he said Hydro One contacted 5300 customers via letter, encouraging them to report outages.
“The information we received from customers – such as time, location, duration, and other details of the outage – have helped us, along with our system data, to better pinpoint and understand the issues, and direct where investments are needed in the system,” Zhu said.
Investments made in January include the installation of an additional recloser in Colchester to contain and minimize the impact of outages, and additional communicating fault circuit indicators for increased data recording and visibility of outages. In 2022, the first batch of defective equipment identified during infrared patrols were replaced or repaired, with the remaining on track to be repaired this summer. Targeted off-cycle vegetation management is also planned.
Since August of 2022, data indicates that the causes of the M1 Kingsville outages, based on duration, were due to equipment failure (37 percent), tree contacts (28 percent), foreign interference (15 percent), scheduled outages (15 percent), with five percent being from unknown causes.
Equipment failure and tree contacts are generally Hydro One’s top issues throughout the province, Zhu said, adding based on the data seen for Kingsville M1, it is consistent with its general system averages.
He added that at the feeder source, since 2022, there have been seven momentary operations, of which five occurred during major storm events. Customers on the Kingsville M1 will see more momentary interruptions as there are additional protective devices before Harrow and Colchester. At least seven additional momentary interruptions would have occurred.
“We understand customers are reporting additional momentary interruptions, beyond the 14 as described,” Zhu said, adding that along with resident reporting Hydro One continues to drive towards a solution to the issue.
Moving forward, Zhu said Hydro One will continue to investigate and invest in its system in Harrow and Colchester. In addition, staff will continue to analyze data from customer reports and internal outage data to pinpoint the causes and to better direct its investments. They will also continue to troubleshoot to determine the causes of outages as they occur, and address vegetation issues prior to its scheduled cycle on an as-needed basis.
Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais asked how Council reps can respond to customers who are still being affected by power-outages that result in having to replace appliances. Zhu noted Hydro One asks for patience as it continues to work on the matter and will hopefully have a better solution in the near future.
She also asked how Hydro One can help the municipality grow. Zhu said companies are focused on reliable sources and Hydro One is focused on having a reliable source and wants to provide that.
Mayor Sherry Bondy asked about vegetation management cycle. Zhu said the feeders that supply Colchester and Harrow were last cleared in 2021 and are scheduled to be cleared every three-years. As issues arise, Hydro One will complete inspections.
She hopes to touch base with Hydro One every six-months to go over the data being brought in from the public.
“I think that building this relationship is good in looking at other, out-of-the-box solutions,” she said, noting that could include the length of feeders.
Zhu said out-of-the-box ideas are being explored.
“The way the system is set up, it is not conducive to easily providing alternative supply without significant investments,” he said. “We are hoping to find the cause of the problem and perhaps not have to come back in six-months by giving you a better solution [rater] than reporting on the progress.”
“I look forward to building our relationship,” Bondy stated. She also asked if there was a way Hydro One could provide reasons for momentary outages to customers, like it does for longer disruptions.
She urged residents to continue to notify the utility of disruptions.