Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife's power supply is holding up after a military helicopter clipped power lines Monday night, temporarily plunging the city into darkness and severing a connection to the Snare hydro-generation plant.

Downed transmission lines hang from a 22-metre tower about 10 km northwest of Yellowknife Thursday after a Canadian Forces Griffon helicopter clipped them during a training exercise Monday, knocking out power to Yellowknife. - photo courtesy of Aaron Martin/NWT Power Corporation

The NWT Power Corporation and Northland Utilities are praising Yellowknife industrial customers for reducing their power usage during peak times while repairs are being done to the downed electrical line.

"We are still asking our industrial customers to help us out by running their own generation, and they have been very co-operative and their co-operation has prevented us from conducting rotating outages," said Kevin Lailey, operations manager for Northland Utilities. "So, their help has been fantastic."

Currently, Yellowknife is receiving six megawatts of hydro-generated electricity from the Bluefish plant and 28 megawatts of diesel-generated electricity from the Jackfish power station, said Robert Schmidt, director of hydro operations with the NWT Power Corporation.

He said the peak hours are 6:30 to 8 a.m. and 5 to 7:30 p.m. and attributes the diligence of residents and mild temperatures for there being no need to go ahead with rotating outages.

"I can say that the people of Yellowknife have been very good at reducing their power usage and we have to commend them for their diligence on this," said Schmidt.

Meanwhile, the question of who will pay for the repairs is under investigation.

"There's a process called claims against the Crown for damages and that's a process that the power company is in discussion with the Canadian Forces coordinated by Joint Task Force North here in Yellowknife," said Lt. (Navy) Paul Pendergast Wednesday. "It's a process that is underway and it will take time. It's not going to be decided today or tomorrow."

Pendergast said he couldn't provide more details about the incident because it is under investigation, nor could he give a rough estimate of how long it would take to determine the cost of the damages and who will pay for them.

"Until those investigations are completed it is unknown to what extent, if any, the Canadian Forces will be liable for the repairs and other expenses associated with the incident," said Pendergast.

Schmidt said the cost of the damages is not the top priority for the corporation and that the focus is on keeping the power running.

"Our key focus at this time is getting service restored to the community, and once we do that we will investigate cost recovery from a third party," said Schmidt. "The military has offered assistance, where possible ... but we don't want to start arguing about cost at this time."

During question period at the legislative assembly Wednesday, Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley asked Michael Miltenberger, minister of finance and minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, who would be paying for the damages.

"We'll be debriefing to see where obligations lie and will follow up once that's done," said Miltenberger.

Schmidt said the lines that were struck, approximately 10 km northwest of Yellowknife, were running from standard transmission towers which are approximately 22 metres high. He said the helicopter cut the transmission lines and that it will take more than two kilometres of conductor cable to replace them.

In a possibly related incident involving a ramp employee being hit by the propeller of a Canadian North Dash-8 aircraft Monday night, airport manager Steve Loutitt said that while the emergency lights at the airport were working during the blackout, it would have been considerably darker.

"I can say the aircraft itself is self-illuminated as are the service vehicles around it. The emergency lighting worked as it normally does during a power outage, but our apron would be darker than normal," said Loutitt. He said that's because the airports flood lights were not operational.

Because it is an ongoing investigation, no updates are available on the condition of the male victim, who was medevaced to an Edmonton hospital in critical condition.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.