Nova Scotia Power Activating Emergency Operations Centre

Halifax, NS - Nova Scotia Power will be activating its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) tomorrow at noon (Friday, December 19) ahead of high winds that are expected to impact the province and exceed warning levels Friday evening and overnight into Saturday morning.

"We have been monitoring the forecasts and crews across the province are ready to respond," said Pam Scully-Poirier, Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead. "Winds are expected to reach 100 km/hour in many areas of the province, this can bring trees and branches into power lines, which is the leading cause of outages during windstorms."

The EOC provides a central place to coordinate planning for outage restoration and response. It is staffed with employees from all parts of the company focused on storm response efforts. The team will also be working closely with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office.

Nova Scotia Power is investing $1.3 billion over five years in work to improve reliability of service for customers by strengthening and modernizing the electricity grid. This includes an average of $250 million in projects across Nova Scotia each year. Over the last three years, we have also nearly doubled our investment in tree trimming from $25 million to $45 million.

Outage Information

Customers can report outages and get estimated restoration times online at outagemap.nspower.ca or by calling 1-877-428-6004.

Quick Facts: High Wind

• Safety is our top priority. When winds reach warning levels (over 80 km/hour), it may not be safe for crews to conduct elevated work in bucket trucks, which at times may cause some delay in restoring power.
• High winds can cause unsafe conditions with debris and falling objects, like tree branches, which can also create safety issues for crews restoring power.
• If a customer's electrical equipment is damaged, such as a meter mast, they'll need a certified electrician to make repairs before we can safely restore power.

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