Power outages cause grief for Oyen area

By Joan Janzen

Oyen and district experienced a power outage beginning in the early hours of January 18th. ATCO Electric reported their service territories experienced a higher than normal frequency of power outages due to ice and broken lines, which impacted their ability to predict estimated restoration times.

Photo via @ATCOElectric Twitter account

“We’ve had fog and severe frost for a number of days, which is weighing down power lines,” Doug Jones, mayor of Oyen, explained. “Power lines have gone down and broke. Crews fix one, and another one goes down. They’ve got lots of crews out helping.” Power resumed for Oyen residents at 10 p.m. on Wed., January 18th, but it only lasted until 7:00 a.m. the following morning. Power came on downtown mid-morning on Thursday, January 19th,” he noted.

Just prior to the power outage, the town of Oyen had a water break. “If you have an opening, you have to boil water for four days,” Mayor Jones explained. Alberta Health Services issued a boil water advisory for the Town of Oyen’s drinking water. Residents were advised to bring water to a rapid rolling boil for at least one minute prior to consumption until water samples could be tested for safety.

The power outage affected a municipal generator that supports water for the community of Oyen. Mayor Jones explained that the generator didn’t automatically fire up as expected when the power went down the first night, which wasn’t discovered until the following morning. “The generator fires up the water pressure on the pumps,” Mayor Jones explained. “But the generator did fire up the following night when the power went out once again.”

Due to intermittent power and water outages, Oyen Public School, Assumption RC School, and South Central High School all put out notifications to cancel classes. However, each of the facilities remained open with staff on hand to offer assistance if needed.

The power outage extended to many regions throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan. In Acadia Valley, the Acadia Valley Community Club posted a notice on social media, extending an invitation, “If anyone without power needs a place to stay or is in need of a hot meal, you are welcome here.” The community club operates out of Acadia Valley’s community hall.

Meanwhile, crews at the town of Oyen worked diligently to address the generator issues and get water back to the residents while ATCO Power worked on restoring power to the area.

Mayor Jones said power lines were hanging low because of the heavy frost, and he’s hoping for some sunshine to help knock the ice off the lines.