IceStorm 98 Study

Granite Power supplies electricity to about 450 customers in the new City of Kingston. That total is split between the two former townships, with about 60 per cent in the former Pittsburgh Township and about 40 percent in the former Kingston Township.

Every one of those customers lost power during the ice storm, and some were down for significantly longer than the average of about four to six days. Outlying areas were out for as long as two weeks, and many of the cottage or seasonal customers were out upwards of three months. The cottages would have been restored sooner, but customers didn’t report the problem until long after the initial ice storm.

Most of the area covered by Granite Power was out for three or four days. The company brought in help from a number of outside utilities, Ontario Hydro, and a few private power companies. The military also assisted in both former townships. Private electrical companies, or private electricians also did hook-ups, did tree-cutting, and anything else they could do.

Mr. Hannah said Granite Power Corp. worked independently of the city, and confirmed Mayor Bennett’s statement that there was no contact at any point during the storm between the city and the company. But he said this is because Kingston never called Granite Power, and because Granite Power was trying to get the job done on its own, without bothering city officials, who were busy with other things:

“We had very little contact with City Hall, though they were informed, through radio contact. They did not contact us for assistance, and nor did we contact them. We felt that we had enough assistance through the military, through the other electrical utilities and the private organizations, that we could look after it ourselves. We knew they were busy, and had their own problems, so we tried to restore power by our own methods.”

“We had a news release, and we were in contact with our customers all the time, and we advised them that if problems arose, that they should contact our office and not the City of Kingston. It seemed to work quite well. Given the scope of the damage, it was handled quite well. That was our main concern, not with the city of Kingston, but with restoring our own customers to power. Although we would assist them in any way possible, of course. We were not isolated from the city, to that extent. If they had called us, we would have done whatever we could at the time.”

[Various comments in the Municipal Control Group minutes suggest that the city was trying to get ahold of Granite Power, but having no success].

Granite Power Corporation has a series of 27 kV main feeder lines running along Hwy. #2, along Middle Road, John F. Scott Road, and Kingston Mills to Montreal Street. That line then gets stepped down to a 4160 kV line, which in turn gets stepped down to 120 or 240 V for the individual services to the homes themselves. Hannah said the main feeder lines were restored within four days. Individual services in accessible areas were restored within six or seven days.

Granite Power had six or seven outside hydro crews and another 20 or 30 military personnel working on its system during the emergency. The military assistance came through on about day three of the emergency, as the result of an offer from CFB Kingston.

Outside hydro help came from Ontario Hydro and municipal utilities in Toronto, Kitchener and Peterborough. Granite Power also used Polar Line Construction from around Harrowsmith, and engaged two professional tree trimming crews, and one private hydro utility from Madoc, McBeath Brothers. Tall Tree Lines Services also helped out.

Budget estimates of the cost of the whole operation were incomplete at the time of this interview, but Hannah said Granite Power probably spent about $300,000 to $400,000 on the storm. The costs are still being tallied because the restoration job is ongoing, he said.

“We’re still repairing services and main lines. We’re continually upgrading them because over the course of the ice storm, lines were stretched, poles either snapped or broken, [and we have had to carry out] general repairs on the whole system.”