(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

‘We are going to work 24 hours a day to get the work done’: SaskPower

May 19, 2021 | 10:06 AM

As of Wednesday morning, roughly 8,000 SaskPower customers are still sitting in the dark.

Crown spokesperson Joel Cherry explained to paNOW, crews have been unable to get into the area where the main transmission was damaged, because it’s not safe to do so yet.

“We’ve stockpiled all the equipment and materials we are going to need to do the work,” he said. “As soon as we are able to get on the ground working, we are going to work 24 hours a day to get the work done.”

Cherry explained 15 power line structures will need to be replaced and it’s possible more were damaged overnight.

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There is some good news to share. Crews have managed to restore service to rural areas between Spruce Home and Christopher lake, including the local grocery store.

“All told in that area we have about a 1,000 customers back on,” Cherry said.

At this stage, SaskPower still hopes to have all power restored within three days, but expects to have a clearer timeline later today.

An update from Saskatchewan Public Service Agency has been scheduled for 11 a.m.

SaskTel outage

According to the latest update from SaskTel support, work continues to restore cellular service in Emma Lake, Montreal Lake, Paddockwood, Anglin Lake, Filion Lake, Grandmother Bay, La Ronge, and Waskesiu.

“We are working to fix this as quickly as possible and will update this post when more info is available,” a statement said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell