How we restore power
- Important
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Put together an outage preparedness kit. Complete information is available on the
Civil Protection Web site.
Normal situations
If there are not too many outages, system operators will dispatch service crews to each outage, generally in the order in which they were reported1. The crews will determine the nature of the outage and proceed with repairs and service restoration.
Emergencies
When there are many outages, such as when a weather event causes extensive line damage, the emergency centres are opened in the zones affected and Hydro-Québec recalls all necessary personnel to maximize field deployment. On occasion, crews from other parts of Québec and even from other companies or provinces or from the U.S. are called in as reinforcements.
Hydro-Québec simultaneously works to assess the damage to the power system, estimate the recovery time and deploy crews to systematically carry out the necessary repairs and restore service. As progress is made, it regularly revises service restoration times.
During this type of event, to keep the population informed of the progress it is making to restore service, Hydro-Québec representatives stay in constant contact with the media and, if necessary, with the affected municipalities.
1 Except in cases where safety or security is at risk. The crews will determine the nature of the outage and proceed with repairs and service restoration.
