Residents of two communities on the west coast of Newfoundland have finally regained power after enduring a blackout lasting over 44 hours. The outage was triggered by a bird strike at the Rocky Harbour Station on Monday morning, affecting more than a thousand customers in Rocky Harbour and Norris Point.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro managed to restore power around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, as confirmed by Chad Wiseman, the vice-president of hydro operations. Wiseman explained that the incident, involving damage to the actual power transformer station, was an unusual challenge compared to typical power outages caused by line faults or damage.
After identifying the issue, efforts were made to repair the damage and source replacement components. However, delays arose during electrical testing due to malfunctioning parts, prompting the deployment of an alternate plan to bring in a new transformer for replacement.
Wiseman acknowledged the significant disruption caused by the prolonged outage, attributing the fault to a crow interfering with the transformer components at the terminal station. He noted the inherent difficulty in preventing wildlife access to such sites and emphasized the rarity of outages lasting as long as this one did.
In response to the impact of the outage, Jason Cullihall, co-owner of Buoy and Arrow Restaurant and Suites in Rocky Harbour, expressed relief at the restoration of power. Despite utilizing generators to sustain his businesses during the outage, Cullihall mentioned potential losses from spoiled food and operational challenges in managing both a restaurant and hotel with backup power.
Cullihall highlighted the understanding of most clients during the ordeal, mentioning refunds issued to some guests. He also lamented the toll on his staff, estimating significant labor hours lost and financial impacts from the closure of the restaurant, describing the overall losses as “mind-boggling.”
Moving forward, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro plans to conduct an investigation to glean insights and enhance preparedness for future disruptions.