Scheduled Power Outage (Tuesday, 02 September 2008) - - Last Updated (Friday, 05 September 2008) SCHEDULED POWER OUTAGE: Please be advised that the Town of Collingwood will be without power for a Hydro One scheduled outage on Sunday September the 14th, 2008 from 12:00am midnight until 10:00am Sunday morning. COLLUS would like to assure our customers that everything possible has been done to minimize the length of the outage both by Hydro One Networks and by our own staff here at the Utility. In fact, our staff have been called to duty to perform some other maintenance on our 44Kv facilities during this planned outage in order to eliminate the need for another outage at a later date on our Distribution System. Update on the planned outage: A major upgrade to the facilities at the Stayner Transformer Station is scheduled for September 14th. This will require an outage which will affect all the feeds out of the Stayner TS. Our customers in the Town of Collingwood and Creemore will be without power due to the planned outage which is scheduled to be in effect between midnight and ten am on Sunday September 14. Hydro One Networks has informed us that their crews will be carefully reviewing their work plans in an attempt to shorten the outage to 9 hours if at all possible. As such, the power may be on by 9 am on Sunday. Additionally - arrangements have been made to feed the town of Stayner from Midhurst TS, so it is anticipated that Stayner will not be affected by the outage. Should the weather be uncooperative, the alternative date is scheduled for the 21st of September. This project is part of the final phase of a major project (estimated at $41 Million) to upgrade the supply to the entire area. This particular project was originally reviewed in the early 1990’s, however through significant conservation efforts by the Local Utilities and by transferring loads to other stations with available capacity, sufficient system relief was secured to postpone the construction. With load growth continuing throughout Simcoe County and surrounding areas, the other stations could no longer be relied upon to carry on with the load transfers, and the existing 115Kv line was incapable of supplying our area without a major risk of voltage collapse under peak loading conditions. Following a lengthy review process in 2004, it was decided to begin construction on the 230 Kv upgrade to the Stayner TS in order to ensure a reliable supply to the area through to at least 2022. Approval for the project was received from the Ontario Energy Board and the Ontario Power Authority in 2007 with construction beginning shortly thereafter. Additional background: The Town of Collingwood and the surrounding area is served electrically from the Stayner Transformer Station (located in the town of Stayner). Power flows from Generation facilities across the province through a Network of 500Kv and 230Kv Tower Lines to some key Transformer Stations which in turn transmit the power closer to where the power is needed. One major hub is located just outside of the City of Barrie called ESSA TS. This particular facility is the source of supply to the Stayner TS transformers where the power is currently reduced from 115Kv to 44Kv. Your facility (along with the entire municipality of Collingwood) are serviced through three 44Kv feeders which originate from the Stayner TS. The final stage of the Network System upgrade is the actual connection, and transfer of loads from the old 155Kv system between ESSA and Stayner to the new 230Kv system which has been built over the last few years. During this transfer, both the 115Kv and the 230Kv lines, along with the Station Transformers must be de-energized in order to allow the crews to complete the task. Given that all of our supply comes directly from those 115Kv Transformers which are being de-commissioned, we will not have any power available to service our customers in Collingwood. We realize that there may be some confusion related to the fact that Thornbury and the Town of Stayner will still have access to power. The Town of Thornbury is actually fed from a 44Kv circuit out of Meaford and as such is not affected by this major investment in the Grid Network. That particular 44Kv feeder is not tied to our existing system in Collingwood so it cannot be used to provide supply during the outage. The town of Stayner currently is planned to have power available, but that is only due to the fact that the Town of Wasaga Beach used to be serviced out of Stayner TS, and in order to help manage loads on the Stayner TS, the Town of Wasaga has been fed for more than ten years from the Midhurst TS north of Barrie. The line connecting Wasaga to Stayner is still in place, and as such will be used to provide limited power to the Town of Stayner during the outage. The facilities at Stayner are not only old, but have reached the very edge of the capacity they are able to provide to our territory. Our customers have clearly noted to us that they want system reliability and the need for sustainable supply of power. Hydro One Networks, COLLUS Power, other Local Utilities, as well as the surrounding Municipalities worked hard to find ways of securing a reliable and stable source of electrical supply to the area. The investment of over $41 Million into this project is by no means insignificant, and bears witness to the serious commitment being made to the ongoing and future reliability of supply to the entire area.   We all recognize the impact of such an outage on the community, the businesses and the industries that rely on a secure supply of power. Unfortunately, in an attempt to provide secure supply of power, the outage is completely unavoidable. We can assure you that the crews at Hydro One Networks are fully aware of the importance of getting the power back on as soon as possible, and through discussions with their supervisors we understand they will do all they can (without compromising safety) to complete the work as efficiently as possible. We would also like to remind you that if the weather is uncooperative, the outage will be cancelled with a rain date currently set for the 21st.