NB Power says outages caused by wildlife difficult to fight as losses add up in Saint Andrews

NB Power says there are limits to what it can do to prevent electrical outages caused by wildlife, as businesses in Saint Andrews tally up losses from several grid failures this summer.

“We did have a number of outages related to osprey,” says Nicole Poirier, NB Power’s vice-president of operations. “We had a squirrel incident, and we also had an incident with a beaver that cut a tree that went into a line.”

The utility shared details about 15 “blue sky” outages in the Saint Andrews area since April, during a public meeting held on Wednesday. Some of the other unexpected outages were caused by fallen trees and a vehicle collision.

A wildlife related power outage on July 1 happened during the midday height of Canada Day events in Saint Andrews, causing trouble for businesses all over town.

Restaurant owner Kevin Simmonds says the Canada Day crowds this year were some of the largest he's ever seen, with as many as 10,000 people. He says the downtown looked “pretty quiet” about an hour and a half after the outage began.

“Canada Day really brings it forward because that's one of our major revenue generators for businesses in downtown Saint Andrews,” says Simmonds.

Away from downtown, the Algonquin Resort was near no-vacancy when it was hit with the outage.

“Every computer goes down, all our air conditioning goes down, the elevators stop, we have to get people out of the elevator,” says Stephen Dodwell, general manager of the Algonquin Resort. “We have no cell signal, we can't take a booking, we can't answer a phone, we can't cook.”

“I had to give lots of people money back, for meals that were unfinished, rooms that they didn't want to pay for because they were hot with no air conditioning. I don't get anything back from New Brunswick Power for all of that lost business.”For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.

NB Power says it has spent $60 million in recent years to upgrade power infrastructure in the Saint Andrews area.

Poirier says NB Power has several programs to address “blue sky” outages, but adds there are constraints on how much the utility can do – particularly with ospreys that make nests on infrastructure.

“We’re challenged with the number of ospreys in the province which continues to grow,” says Poirier. ”Especially in the nesting season, it’s really difficult to move nests. So unless it's critical infrastructure we have to follow the rules and regulations from the Department of Environment. Then during the off season, for instance winter, we would actually take the necessary actions to move those nests.”

Poirier says NB Power is committed to rebuilding customer confidence in the area, but some businesses are developing back up power plans for the future.

“It’s about $180,000 worth of money we're putting into a new generator because of this,” says Dodwell at the Algonquin.

Saint Andrews restaurant owner Matt Harvey says the string of outages, and the possibility of more, has him thinking about purchasing a generator as well.

"I think it's necessary," says Harvey. "And I think a lot of businesses will be pushed into that direction going forward."

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.