Power outages trending down in Upper Pontiac, 2023 best year on record

Power outages trending down in Upper Pontiac, 2023 best year on record

Back in 2009, exasperated by the number of power outages in his area, L’Isle-aux-Allumettes farmer David Gillespie started keeping track of the electrical grid servicing the Upper Pontiac, documenting the length and frequency of its failures. After 15 years, numerous discussions with elected officials and Hydro-Quebec representatives, it appears that the numbers are trending in the right direction.

He said that despite the severe cold snap that lead to extensive outages in February 2023, last year was the best on record since he started keeping the data, with 26 outages lasting a total of 874 minutes.

He said he would like to see the decline continue, adding he would be happy with one outage a month.

Below is a excerpt of Gillespie’s data:

The full interview with Gillespie (6m25) is available here.

Disclosure: Gillespie is the Vice-President of CHIP 101.9’s board of directors.