Power Outage Map

Don't get caught in the dark. Here are tips on how to make sure you are prepared for a power outage to ensure you and your family are kept safe.

• Download our 72-Hour Emergency Kit Guide to find out what you should have on hand in case there's a power outage. Remember, after you build your Emergency Kit, make sure it’s somewhere that’s easy to find. Will you know how to find it in the dark?
• Take inventory of the items you need that rely on electricity.
• Plan for batteries and other alternative power sources to meet your needs when the power goes out, such as a portable charger or power bank.
• Have flashlights for every household member. Determine whether your home phone will work in a power outage and how long battery backup will last.
• Last but not least, stay up-to-date about outages on our My ATCO Electricity App, a one-stop-shop for all outage updates and reports

The power can go out for a number of reasons including:

• Extreme weather: Most power outages are caused by severe weather. Strong winds can topple trees onto power lines. Lightning may strike power poles, lines or other equipment. Freezing rain, heavy snow or frost can build up on lines and break or damage them.
• Construction and vehicle accidents: Another common cause of outages is accidental contact, including underground or overhead power lines at construction sites, and vehicle accidents with power poles, lines or other equipment.
• Animals: Birds, squirrels, raccoons and other animals may contact equipment or chew into a power line. In our service area, it’s not uncommon for beavers to “fall” trees onto power lines.
• Planned maintenance: Sometimes, we need to interrupt service so we can work on the system safely. We try to avoid this but when we can’t, we give customers as much notice as possible.
• Supply and demand: Service disruptions can occur when electricity supply doesn’t meet demand, such as when a generating unit goes down during a heat wave or peak use. These situations are rare.
• Equipment failure: Though we regularly inspect, maintain and update our equipment, occasionally cables, connectors, switches or other equipment fail and trigger an outage.

• Once power has been re-established to homes and businesses, it’s imperative that residents conserve their power. Try to initially limit power usage to critical needs only to prevent further outages; the electrical grid may be at limited capacity and could be overwhelmed by a surge in demand.
  
• Generator power does not have the same reliability when powering from the grid, so simple energy conservation measures could dramatically reduce the potential of further outages while our crews are still repairing infrastructure in unpredictable weather.

• Some of those energy saving tips include: 
  • Turning off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances
  • Minimizing the use of space heaters 
  • Reducing the use of major power-consuming appliances, such as washers, dryers, stoves and dishwashers 
  • Using cold water for washing clothes 
  • And delay charging electric vehicles or using trickle chargers for vehicles and equipment
• We understand asking customers to conserve power isn’t ideal but doing so will give the electrical grid a chance to stabilize and help avoid further outages.