Extended Power Outages Irk Northern Leader

Extended Power Outages Irk Northern Leader

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 at 14:14

 

 

 

A northern leader wants some action taken by SaskPower following two extended power outages in the last 3 days in several west side communities.

 

Residents of communities like Buffalo Narrows, Ile-a-la-Crosse and La Loche were without power for 9 hours Saturday after a tree fell on a power line near Glaslyn.

 

Many of the same communities affected by Saturday’s power outage went without power for another 3 hours yesterday afternoon when the wind blew over a power pole near La Loche.

 

Ile-a-la-Crosse mayor Max Morin says aside from the inconvenience of being without electricity and sewer and water service for several hours, these extended outages can disrupt water treatment plants and force boil water advisories.

 

Morin says it’s time to resurrect an idea that northern leaders proposed several years ago. He feels northwest Saskatchewan should have its own generating station to lessen the extent and the frequency of the outages.

 

A SaskPower spokesman says Morin should write a letter to the minister in charge of SaskPower and its president outlining the proposal.

 

Morin says he will present a motion to that effect at the Ile-a-la-Crosse village council meeting tonight and is urging other councils in northwest Saskatchewan to do the same.