Manitoba Hydro repaired the downed transmission line feeding Pimicikamak Cree Nation and began restoring power in stages on Jan. 1, nearly four days after the line snapped over the Nelson River and left the community without heat in -30 C cold; full service was confirmed the next day.
‘Praise the Lord! We have light again!’
For residents who rode out the outage, the first sign of success was ordinary: a light coming back on. “I seen my outside light on. I said, ‘praise the Lord! We have light again!'” said Brenda Monias, who stayed in the community through the entire outage. “It’s very good. And I’m happy for my grandchildren so they won’t be cold.”
The community of about 7,000, at Cross Lake roughly 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, had been without power since late Sunday, when a line crossing the Nelson River snapped. Grand Elder Raymond Robinson described visiting homes earlier in the week where residents’ breath misted in the cold indoors. About 1,400 people left for hotels or relatives in other communities before the repair was finished.
A repair done in the cold, between two islands
The break was in a difficult place. The 300-metre line ran between two islands in the Nelson River, where the ice was not thick enough to support repair vehicles, the utility said. The repair work required daylight and weather suitable for helicopter operations.
“Despite these challenges and -30 C temperatures, Manitoba Hydro crews completed the work safely and successfully,” the utility said in a statement. About 20 Manitoba Hydro employees worked in the community during the outage, along with contractors and local support staff.
Power back in stages
Hydro re-energized customers gradually, in stages, to avoid overloading the system. Electric furnaces and other equipment draw very heavy current when they first come online in cold weather, and switching everything on at once could have damaged equipment and prolonged the outage.
“We again thank all of our customers in the community for their understanding and patience as we worked through this difficult repair and now begin the re-energization process,” Hal Turner, Manitoba Hydro’s chief operating officer, said.
During the outage, the utility supplied a large generator to restore power to the community’s water treatment plant and eight generators to power heavy-duty heaters. Hydro later confirmed that about 75 per cent of customers had power by the end of Thursday night and the remainder were re-energized on Friday.
Restoration is not the end
Public Safety Canada said federal officials were working with Indigenous Services Canada and the province to support the community, including deliveries of generators, heaters, food and water and evacuations where needed.
But Chief David Monias had already warned Ottawa that the return of electricity would reveal the next phase of the emergency: frozen water tanks, failing sewage and, as homes thaw, burst pipes and flooding that could displace more families. His letter asking the prime minister to deploy the military — sent a day before the lights came back — was aimed at that longer recovery, not only at the repair itself.
