Electricity has been restored to two communities on the west coast of Newfoundland following a blackout that lasted over 44 hours.

A bird collision at the Rocky Harbour Station on Monday morning caused a power outage affecting more than a thousand customers in Rocky Harbour and Norris Point.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro managed to bring back power around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Chad Wiseman, the vice president of hydro operations.

Wiseman explained to CBC Radio’s Newfoundland Morning that such power losses typically involve line faults or damage, not direct transformer station issues like in this case.

Upon identifying the problem, efforts to rectify it and procure replacement components began. However, issues with some of the replacement parts during electrical testing led to additional delays.

“Ultimately, we had to resort to Plan B, which involved transporting a new transformer to the site for replacement, a process that took some time,” Wiseman stated.

He acknowledged the significant disruption the outage caused for residents who were left without electricity.

“It seems that a crow managed to interfere with the transformer’s bushings at the station, resulting in an electrical fault between phases and subsequent damage,” Wiseman explained.

Preventing wildlife access to such sites can be challenging, he added.

Wiseman noted that prolonged outages like this one are uncommon, and Hydro intends to conduct an investigation to extract valuable insights for the future.

Impact on Businesses

Jason Cullihall, co-owner of Buoy and Arrow Restaurant and Suites in Rocky Harbour, shared that he is now occupied with the aftermath of the power restoration.

“It’s now all about tackling the laundry, heaps of it,” he remarked.

Despite having generators to sustain his establishments, Cullihall had to purchase additional units. He suspects some of his perishables may have spoiled but hasn’t had the chance to verify. Managing both a restaurant and hotel solely on generators posed challenges, he added.

Cullihall mentioned that most clients were understanding, and refunds were issued to some guests impacted by the outage.

Reflecting on the toll on his staff, he estimated a loss of around 200 labor hours and roughly $3,000 in tips. The financial impact of the closure on the restaurant was described as “mind-boggling” by Cullihall.

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