Hydro-Québec maintaining planned power outages for Pointe-Claire amid heat wave, seniors to be shuttled to malls

Hydro-Québec is planning to go ahead with planned power outages on Wednesday, meaning over a thousand customers will be off the grid in Pointe-Claire on Montreal’s West Island amid the heat wave.

“The work that needs to be carried out in Pointe-Claire tomorrow is essential,” says Gabrielle Leblanc, a Hydro-Québec spokesperson. “Otherwise, it could mean that residents over there could have longer and important power outages, and obviously we do not want that, especially in a heat wave.”

Leblanc said that due to Montreal being under a heat warning, some planned outages have been rescheduled, but others still need to go ahead because of the urgency of the work.

“As soon as we receive a heat wave alert, we coordinate so each intervention can be studied,” Leblanc said. “We want to assess each of them so we know if it can be modified or postponed. We postpone all of them that can be rescheduled because we do not want to deprive our customers of air conditioning.

“So, the interventions that we keep are the ones that are absolutely necessary to maintain the quality of service.”

Around 1,600 customers will be affected near Hymus and St-Jean Boulevards, including a seniors home: Chartwell’s Le Wellesley.

“The well-being of our residents is our top priority, and our staff will continue to provide dedicated support to ensure their comfort and safety in their retirement living community,” said Voula Kollias, General Manager of Chartwell Le Wellesley.

The residence is preparing for the planned power outage and will be distributing cold water, adapting menus to include cold meals, and providing air-conditioned or cooler common areas.

Residents will also be shuttled buses to an air-conditioned shopping mall. “this service is designed to offer a cool and pleasant environment, especially for our seniors,” said Kollias. “We have also been actively discussing with Hydro-Québec to expedite the necessary work, so that they can reduce the duration of any inconvenience and minimize the impact on our residents.”

Hydro-Québec says they have been in touch with the residence.

“We called them yesterday to make sure that they have everything they need during the intervention,” Leblanc said. “So the residents already have battery packs to make sure that the residents who need equipment that need electricity are going to be okay and we gave them a few tips to keep the building cool.”

The utility recommends closing curtains and blinds during the outage. “Go ahead and put your AC maybe a little cooler than you would normally and that will allow the temperature to be fresh throughout the intervention,” she said.

Environment Canada recommends spending at least two hours a day in an air-conditioned or cool place, or to take a cool shower or bath, as humidex values are expected to exceed 40 in the afternoon in Montreal over the next few days, before the heat and humidity begins to ease on Friday.

Hydro says it’s not possible to postpone this work since it involves multiple teams working simultaneously on a long stretch of lines.

“We added teams and we are going to start earlier during the day so we finish earlier,” said Leblanc. “So we will finish around 1p.m., before the heat reaches its peak, so that will help.”

Work is expected to start around 7 a.m. and customers can consult the Hydro-Québec website in planned service interruptions to check for updates.