UPDATE #3: Everyone should have their power back. Anyone still experiencing an outage should contact ATCO Electric.
UPDATE #2: Power is back on for many residents. Westpointe should be restored by 9 p.m.
UPDATE: ATCO Electric says power should start coming back on over the next 90 minutes or so.
Much of Grande Prairie has been without power since 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The neighbourhoods affected are on the west side of the city, with people in Avondale, Northridge, Royal Oaks, Westpoint and Brochu Industrial saying they’re in the dark.
There are reports that a vehicle hit a power pole, but those are unconfirmed by ATCO Electric so far. The utility says its crews are responding but there’s no estimated time that power will be restored.
#gpab our crews are working on restoring power as quickly as possible. We’ll post when we have more info.
— ATCO Electricity (@ATCOElectric) December 7, 2016
The temperature for the past hour has held steady around minus 21, feeling like minus 30 with the wind chill. Most furnaces won’t work without power to operate the fan, but most new gas fireplace models will function without their fan temporarily. ATCO says to never use a camp stove, barbecue, or propane or kerosene heater indoors as they can cause a deadly build-up of carbon monoxide gas in unventilated areas.
If any traffic lights are down, treat them as a four-way stop. We’ll update when we learn more.
