Cape Breton MLA calls NS Power storm response ‘unacceptable’

The exterior of the Nova Scotia Power building is seen in downtown Halifax in this file photo.

Doug LaRusic has been without power for almost three days now, and the temperature in his Sydney, N.S., house continues to drop.

“I was a refrigeration technician and they store bananas at 55 degrees. This house is too cold to store bananas in,” said LaRusic.

Tuesday's winter storm knocked out electricity to thousands in the province, with most affected on Cape Breton Island.

“We're still sitting here three days post-storm and there's still lots of folks with no power and, quite frankly, that's unacceptable,” said Cape Breton East PC MLA Brian Comer.

Comer has written a letter to senior officials with Nova Scotia Power asking for an in-person meeting. He says he's concerned and disappointed in the lack of service that many residents across Cape Breton have been experiencing over the past few days.

“I want to see what the plan is and the accountability in terms of strategic planning -- whether its human resources on the ground for power restoration, maybe it's inadequate. I think these are questions MLAs should know the answers to,” said Comer.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Amanda McDougall is also concerned for residents.

“This is not fair to the residents of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Regional Municipality. People pay their bills and are doing their part to contribute to Nova Scotia Power. This is not something new and it’s getting worse and worse,” said McDougall.

Nova Scotia Power has blamed the latest outages on abnormal weather conditions and weakened infrastructure due to Hurricane Fiona.

Customers like LaRusic are frustrated waiting.

“I've lodged my complaint with the outage line and they know who I am now,” said LaRusic.

Comer says he's hoping to collaborate on a new strategic plan that will ensure grid reliability while enabling quick restoration when outages do occur.