Cape Breton residents meet with Nova Scotia Power about rural power outages

People fed up with the number of power outages since post-tropical Fiona gathered at the Coastal Discovery Centre in Main-a-Dieu, N.S., to get some answers straight from Nova Scotia Power representatives on Wednesday.

The community meeting was the first of several the utility had committed to after people in rural areas complained about too-frequent power outages following the September 2022 storm.

"It was so frequent, you lived with that expectation. 'Oh, the wind is up, you're going to lose power,’” area resident Pauline Mesher said of the power outages she and neighbours have experienced since Fiona.

Those who attended Wednesday’s meeting were told one of Nova Scotia Power’s substations in nearby Albert Bridge is among the bottom five per cent in the province in terms of performance.

"We have great needs, and the group of people that came today recognized them because they had to drive out here and see what we have faced since Fiona,” Mesher said.

The utility said the biggest problem they have seen across the province is the growing number and intensity of storms.

As a result, they are upping their spending on tree-trimming and vegetation management.

"The number one cause of outages as a result of that is trees contacting power lines,” said Paul Dandurand, Nova Scotia Power’s director of reliability. "Last year, that investment increased to $32 million. And this year, our plan includes $45 million of spending - so almost twice what it's been over the prior five-year period."

A year-and-a-half after Fiona, there are still places in the area where there are stretches of trees toppled over from the storm.

However, several people in attendance agreed the power grid performed much better during the 150 cm of snow Cape Breton received in early February.

"I've already noticed an improvement in the stability in the last several months - and the statistics that they provided here today substantiate that,” said Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillor James Edwards, who pushed for the community meetings in recent months.

The meeting wrapped with the utility promising to come back in a year to meet again with residents and assess how things have changed.

Those in attendance said by then, they expect further improvements to service.

"I don't think there's any choice,” Mesher said. “When you come out and you do a public presentation, and you commit that you will come back in a year, then there's lots of motivation to improve."

Similar community meetings will be held Wednesday evening in Louisbourg, and Thursday evening in Albert Bridge.

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