Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 29/02) - Nunavut Power Corp. is blaming frequent power outages in Iqaluit over the last couple of weeks on upgrades to the city's power plant.

"When you're making these alterations you obviously can't shut down the plant and construction can occasionally knock it off-line," said Axel Have, vice-president of engineering and operations for NPC.

He said the work will continue for several years. "The existing facilities are so old and now that Iqaluit is the capital, there's no telling what the demand for power will be," said Have.

The original power plant was built in the early 1960s.

Although he said the alterations were to blame, Have said unexpected failures occurred at the plant as well. In one case, a speed-sensing switch on one of the engines failed, or was worn out, and shut down the system.