Allumettes Mayor asks residents to file complaints with Hydro-Quebec following outages

Allumettes Mayor asks residents to file complaints with Hydro-Quebec following outages

Residents of the Upper Pontiac are no strangers to hydro issues but were hit by a series of outages during last week’s heat wave and again over the weekend, leaving many upset with the state of the region’s electrical infrastructure.

L’Isle-aux-Allumettes Mayor Corey Spence estimated that there are about 3,400 people affected by the outages, spread out across Sheenboro, Chichester, Waltham, Allumettes and the upper part of Mansfield-et-Pontefract. He explained that part of the issue is the odd electrical distribution set up that the region has, where they are synchronized with the Ontario system, but can be supplied from Quebec when needed. The distance between the closest substation (Cadieux) and the upper reaches of the region makes for inconsistent service at best.

Spence said that they had previously discussed possible solutions with Hydro-Quebec, including expanding transmission lines or building a substation in Waltham, but said that they were told it was too expensive.

Spence said that he had been in contact with Hydro-Quebec, but was still waiting on their analysis of this most recent series of outages. He encouraged residents to file formal complaints with Hydro-Quebec, which he said would build a “paper trail” that local officials would be able to leverage in their discussions.

In a French-language interview, Hydro-Quebec representative Marie-Lou St-Onge said that they are investigating the cause of the disruptions and would be in contact with local officials.