Cold weather blamed for power outage in Behchoko, N.W.T.
Outage to half of community's homes lasted 12 hours in -40 temperature
CBC News
Posted: Jan 31, 2013 10:42 AM CST
Last Updated: Jan 31, 2013 11:33 AM CST
The power was out for about half the homes and offices in Behchoko, N.W.T., for 12 hours Wednesday. Temperatures hovered around -40. (CBC)
Cold weather is being blamed for the power outage in Behchoko, N.W.T., yesterday.
About half of the community was without power for about 12 hours.
Bob Kelly, a spokesperson for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, said —40 temperatures triggered a malfunction on the power line.
"It was frozen open. It should've closed to allow the power to be restored to that part of town but it didn't close. When the power is on, there is electricity going through that piece of equipment which is usually enough to keep it warm but because the power had gone out and that section of the line had not received any power for a while, it appears that it froze," he said.
Kelly said the line has been repaired and power is flowing once again.
Behchoko is about 80 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. Almost 2,000 people live in the community.
This is the second major power outage in the territory this week. On Monday, Norman Wells was preparing to evacuate the town as its natural gas service failed, leaving about half of that community without heat in cold temperatures.
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