Thousands in Montreal lose power, Hydro-Quebec gives tips for saving energy

Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Lynn Saint-Laurent said crews are out working to get power back to customers in Montreal.

Hydro-Quebec is urging customers to watch their energy consumption to ease strain on the network.

As Montrealers woke up to a deep freeze in the region, over 15,000 customers were without power on the island, and there were over a dozen service interruptions in the Côte-des-Neiges--Notre-Dame-de-Grace borough.

“We have teams working on this outage and doing their utmost to restore the service as quickly as possible,” said Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Lynn St-Laurent. “People can follow the situation on the Hydro-Quebec website. Clients will see their power restored gradually. The issue is at the Hampstead substation. We have teams that are investigating.”

• *Do you have a pic during the deep freeze in Quebec? Send them to [e-mail].

The crown corporation is asking clients to take the following actions during peak consumption times - from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.:

• Reduce the heat by one or two degrees Celsius, especially in unoccupied rooms.
• Use hot water after peak demand hours whenever possible.
• Postpone starting large appliances, such as the dryer and dishwasher.
• Charge electric vehicles overnight.

“In winter, Quebec uses nearly twice as much electricity as it does in summer,” Hydro-Quebec said. “On February 3, 2023, temperatures went as low as −52°C, and power demand hit a historic peak of 43,124 MW.”

On Saturday, when Montreal temperatures dropped below -30 C with the wind chill, Quebec consumed 36,176 MW by 12:30 p.m.