Essex Powerlines too slow notifying residents of six-hour outage, says LaSalle man
A LaSalle, Ont., resident says he’s not happy with how long it took for Essex Powerlines to provide details on a recent outage that left nearly 1,000 properties without power.
Power went out for 952 customers throughout LaSalle just before 9 p.m. Saturday, according to Essex Powerlines. The outage lasted about six hours, with power having been restored for most residents by 3 a.m.
But for Sherif El-Messiri, his issue isn’t how long the outage lasted. Instead, he takes issue with how long it took before he was able to read any information about the outage from Essex Powerlines’ website or social media accounts.
At the time of the outage, El-Messiri said, he had been visiting his mother in the U.S.
“My family asked me to come home right away,” El-Messiri told CTV News on Sunday.
“I started search for the Essex Powerlines information [online]. I searched Twitter. There was nothing.”
Despite the outage being declared at 8:53 p.m., it wasn’t until 9:42 p.m. that Essex Powerlines published its first Tweet about it.
During the almost one-hour interval, multiple residents tell CTV News they were unable to access the official website for Essex Powerlines.
“I went to the website and the website was down. The website wouldn't even load,” he said.
“When you have an incident that impacts the service you provide to your customers, you need to communicate that outage to your customer base immediately. That's the minimum they can do.
Despite Saturday night's outage in LaSalle being declared at 8:53 p.m., Essex Powerlines did not issue its first Tweet about it until 9:42 p.m. Multiple residents tell CTV News they were unable to access the energy company's official website as an alternative source of information since it was down throughout that time. Essex Powerlines says its website was down 'intermittently' for just 10 minutes. (Source: Twitter)According to officials with Essex Powerlines, data from its IT department shows the energy company’s website was down “intermittently” for just 10 minutes — but the reason why is unclear.
“Our IT department has indicated that this had nothing to do with the amount of traffic on the website due to the outage,” said Essex Powerlines general manager Joe Barile in a statement to CTV News.
“Our IT department is continuing to investigate further.”
But fellow town resident Nikki LeBlanc said, in her experience, Essex Powerlines’ website was down for nearly the entirety of the first hour of the outage.
“Based on when I tried to access the site at the time of outage and my tweet to Essex Powerlines being sent approximately 50 minutes later, it was down longer than 10 minutes,” she said.
Details of Saturday night's outage in LaSalle is listed on the official website for Essex Powerlines. As of Sunday afternoon, the cause is listed as 'unknown.' (Source: essexpowerlines.ca)Last month, Essex Powerlines released a six-point action plan after scattered outages occurred throughout LaSalle in a single day.
The actions included the redirection of tree trimming services, undertaking infrared inspections of high-risk outage spots and the installation of animal guards to protect infrastructure.
When asked about the success of the plan since it was implemented on Jul. 19, Essex Powerlines said most tasks have been completed while others are still pending.
“We continue to monitor the results of these efforts which, to date, have indicated positive results,” said Barile.
As of Sunday afternoon, Essex Powerlines' website continues to list the cause of Saturday night’s outage as "unknown."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
developing Bus plunges off a bridge in South Africa, killing 45 people. An 8-year-old child is only survivor
A bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter festival plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Calgary bridges remain closed due to ongoing police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Kinew, Poilievre meet at Manitoba legislature, discuss each other's priorities
Premier Wab Kinew and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre met at the Manitoba legislature Thursday afternoon.
Biden OKs US$60M in aid after Baltimore bridge collapse as governor warns of 'very long road ahead'
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned Thursday of a 'very long road ahead' to recover from the loss of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved US$60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse.