West end outage caused by loss of power from provincial grid: Hydro Ottawa

Power lines are seen against cloudy skies near Murvale, Ont., northwest of Kingston, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Hydro Ottawa says thousands of people in Ottawa’s west end briefly lost power Sunday afternoon.

In a post on X at 2:10 p.m., the utility said it was investigating an outage affecting 30,485 customers.

About 20 minutes later, Hydro Ottawa said it had restored the electricity. The outage was caused by a loss of power from the provincial grid, the utility says.

“While we can’t confirm the exact reason at this moment, these types of issues can sometimes be caused by weather changes or increased demand that puts stress on the grid,” Hydro Ottawa said on X.

The utility’s outage map showed showed it covering a large area near Highway 417 including the neighbourhoods of Westboro, Highland Park, Carlingwood, Lincoln Heights, Britannia and Bayshore.

Some residents in Barrhaven also reported outages.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued later in the afternoon, then lifted, after a powerful storm moved through the region. Environment Canada had warned outages were “likely.”

It also comes as a string of hot and humid days this weekend has many residents seeking to cool off, which can place a strain on the power grid as electricity demand increases.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App