Bath, Ont. residents say they are tired of frequent power outages and want answers – Kingston
Power outages for residents of a small town west of Kingston, Ontario are becoming the new normal.
Residents of the Bath community say that since last autumn they have been experiencing frequent and unexplained power outages.
Now, after a few months of thinking about getting back to normal, community members say those issues have returned and they’ve had enough.
“It just happens again and it’s frustrating,” says Bath resident Mary Willing.
“Just recently, last weekend, there was a power outage on Sunday, then a power outage on Monday, and it was shorter, and then yesterday, and I was only affected by the one on Monday and Wednesday.”
As the province has experienced extreme heat over the past few weeks and the colder months have begun, residents are eager to see the problem resolved.
Michael Cox, co-owner of 360 Castaways, which owns a local ice cream shop, says multiple breakdowns aren’t good for business.
“As soon as we have a breakdown, I have to run to the garage and pull cords, plug in my generator, and run my generator,” says Cox.
360 Castaway specializes in many things, but primarily ice cream, which makes problems with power outages, which occur without warning, all the more frustrating.
Cox tells PKBNEWS that blackouts are just not normal.
“I pay delivery for electricity, I pay for hookup and I pay a premium for a business,” he says.
“If I gave people melted ice cream and told them that’s how it is, I don’t think they would come back.”
Both Cox and Willing attribute the problems to an outdated power grid and equipment.
“Some of the equipment in that area may still need replacing, may still need maintenance or something like that. It seems to explode very easily compared to other places,” Willing says.
Responding to questions about the outages, Hydro One says the most recent were due to equipment failure, affecting more than 2,000 people.
“We know how difficult it is to be without power, especially in hot weather, and knowing the problems in Bath, we had teams ready to resolve outages as quickly and safely as possible,” said the power company in a statement.
Hydro One says it is “taking active steps in Bath using smart switches and new technology to upgrade equipment to ensure reliability and keep our customers comfortable.
“We are committed to making investments to improve and modernize the resilience of our electricity system in order to avoid these electrical disturbances. »
— with files from Ryan Peddigrew, PKBNEWS
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