Saint Andrews residents had the chance to learn more about recent power outages in the town.
NB Power held an information session at the W.C. O’Neill Arena Complex on Wednesday evening.
More than 100 residents came out to meet with utility staff, including Mayor Brad Henderson.
“There was a number of different stations that were set up on the arena floor where they could go and have one-on-one conversations,” Henderson told our newsroom.
“We got to actually see what the challenges were and what type of action NB Power was taking to avoid significant disruptions in the future.”
Council requested the information session after a series of power outages in the community over the past few months.
Henderson said they learned that three outages that occurred in the spring were caused by osprey activity.
“There was one line in particular in May that had a lot of osprey activity. Ospreys do build their nests, they are a protected species, and the population is starting to increase,” he said.
In order to reduce the likelihood of more outages, Henderson said the utility powered down that line and re-routed electricity to another one.
The mayor said they also learned that the hours-long outage on Canada Day was caused by a squirrel at a generating station.
“Those that were there did get to see pictures of the squirrel at the generating station that basically shut down the power for Saint Andrews at such a critical time on what is the biggest economic day for the community,” he said.
Henderson said there was also plenty of discussion about the need for more vegetation management in the area.
“The amount of cutting that isn’t happening right now, at least in our region, and concerns that with compromised trees, in the winter can we expect more frequent outages as a result,” he added.
Henderson said he feels the meeting gave residents and business owners the chance to finally have a conversation with utility officials.
As for what comes next, the mayor said they plan to keep the line of communication open with NB Power to address any other concerns that may come up.
