ULUKHAKTOK/HOLMAN
A family in Ulukhaktok were left without power or heat the weekend of Dec. 9 after what they believe was a power surge ripped through their home.

Susan Kaodloak was at home with her husband and children, aged 14 and 22, when she noticed the lightbulbs were burning brighter than normal.

"At about 11 o'clock in the morning, the lights started getting really bright," she said. "You could hear the power, I guess it was surging into the house."

That's when smoke began pouring from two television sets and Bell satellite receivers.

"We started smelling smoke. We looked at our Bell satellite receiver and it was smoking pretty bad," she said. "We could hear popping noises."

Her teenage son was asleep, so Kaodloak and the rest of the family started yelling for him to wake up.

"We were afraid of a fire starting," she said.

Kaodloak's husband threw the televisions and receivers outside then shut off the house's main breaker. Using their own voltage meter, the pair discovered power that should have been entering the house at 120 volts had surged through the house at 240 volts.

The incident destroyed two televisions and two receivers, as well as a microwave and a coffee maker, but Kaodloak said the family's biggest concern was their furnace. The furnace's circuit board and thermostat were also damaged.

"We were really worried about our furnace," she said.

Using an extension cord, they plugged their furnace into neighbour Joanne Ogina's house.

"We got a long extension cord and we plugged into our neighbours power to ensure that our pipes don't freeze," Kaodloak said. "So we spent the weekend with no heat and one little lamp."

Other Ulukhaktok residents, including Joe Kuneyuna, Gibson Kudlak, Joshua Oliktoak, and Adam Kudlak helped keep the furnace running.

When she called the Northwest Territories Power Corporation office in Inuvik on Dec. 9, Kaodloak said they were told help wouldn't be available until Monday, Jan. 12.

"I just want to know why they took so long to get here," she said. "They knew we had no power and they chose to leave us over the weekend with no power."

Pam Coulter, communications manager with NTPC, said bad weather meant crews couldn't travel to Ulukhaktok that weekend.

"Unfortunately during the weened in question, Ulukhaktok had extreme weather and there was no one flying in and out of the community until the Monday," she said.

While she couldn't confirm if the incident was a power surge, Coulter said crews had visited Ulukhaktok a few times in December for other issues.

"I can tell you that the power coming from our plant has been consistent, so we don't know of a power surge specifically," she said. "We had been told that some of the customers were having what we call voltage dim, when they turn an appliance on the lights dim a little bit and come back up."

Kaodloak said the family replaced the damaged items, except for the lamps because there were none available for purchase in Ulukhaktok.

"It was a big expense for us to pay just before the holidays, we replaced pretty much everything other than the lamps," she said. "My mother gave us a coffee pot for a Christmas present just to help out."

On Dec. 21, they submitted a claim of more than $2,000 to NTPC for their damaged items, but hadn't received a response as of press time on Jan. 19. Coulter said claims can take up to a month and a half to process.

"We take all our claims very seriously and that includes an investigation of our claims and the process usually takes between four to six weeks before they get a letter back," she said.

Coulter added that anyone who sets up an account with NTPC is also signing on to the company's terms and conditions, which state that protecting appliances from power surges is the customer's responsibility.

"It outlines the responsibility of the customer, including the responsibility to determine if they have any appliances electronics or devices that need protection and for installing that protection," she said.

Protection can include power bars and surge protectors.

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