 |
|
|
|
|
  
|
Blackouts are costly Businesses say numerous power outages are hurting the bottom lineMiranda Scotland Northern News Services Published Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012
The loss of power affects stores by damaging electronic equipment, driving away customers and reducing staff productivity, said Tim Doyle, executive director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce. "It can be very frustrating, especially for a small business owner who doesn't have very deep pockets," said Doyle. "It's a tough business environment in Yellowknife right now." So far this year, there have been 20 power outages in the city caused by issues at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Northland Utilities, which distributes the power generated by the power corporation, couldn't say how many outages happened on their end. However, last year the company had 58 unplanned power outages. In fact, the latest outage in the city was caused by an equipment failure at a Northland Utilities substation on Monday evening while the day before, the power went out after lightening hit the power corporation's Bluefish line, which supplies 20 per cent of the city's power. Last year by this time, there were 16 power outages caused by issues at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. After 35 years in the North Sandra Stirling, co-owner of Overlander Sports, said she's used to the lights going out and knows there's not much she can do about but still it's not good for business. "Bottom line it costs us money because we're not making sales and sometimes we loose those sales completely because people can't come back, they don't have time to come back," she said, adding if it's dark in the store they have ask people to leave. Boston Pizza general manager, Kirk MacLeod, said the outages cause his company to not only lose customers but also product. Any food that hasn't made it to the pass has to be pitched in the garbage and if the outage lasts a few hours the restaurant could lose any product stored in the refrigerators. On top of that the business has to pay staff even though little to no work is being done. "The biggest thing for us is just the cost of operations," said MacLeod. "We do get through but it's just, it causes a lot of initial headaches throughout a normal day." The majority of outages in the city are a result of bad weather, particularly lightening storms, and faults in the lines or other equipment. Also, the odd time there are unusual incidents. In February, for instance, the power was unexpectedly cut when a Griffon helicopter accidentally clipped a Snare hydro transmission line. Bob Kelly, spokesperson for the power corporation said the company is doing its best to take measures in order to reduce the number of power outages seen each year. Kelly said the company has added additional protection to some of its vulnerable high-voltage areas to reduce the impact of lightening strikes and is also conducting a study that he hopes will help shorten the effect of outages caused by weather events. Also, Kelly said the power corporation and Northland Utilities are working together on the issues. And the work won't stop there, he added. "When there are issues identified we respond later with different technologies," he said. "Technology keeps improving, costs keep coming down in many ways so we apply that where we can and also look at our own internal operating methods to see if there are ways that we can do a better job." But, Doyle isn't convinced that the service is getting better and said he is unimpressed that the power corporation is proposing to raise rates by seven per cent in 2012, 2013, 2014 with another five per cent increase in 2015. A public hearing on the topic is set to be held in late September and in the meantime an interim increase of seven per cent was approved by the NWT Public Utilities Board. It's just another hit to the small businesses, Doyle said. "If we are going to be asked to pay higher rates we would like to see a more consistent service," Doyle said.
|
