A series of power outages are coming to Saskatoon this week.
With many working from home, or using their power to connect internet services, SaskPower media relations consultant Scott McGregor joined Brent Loucks Tuesday morning to speak about the planned outages.
“A couple hours without power, it’s an inconvenience. We appreciate our customers patience during these upgrades,” he said.
From Tuesday to Thursday, SaskPower will be shutting off power in neighbourhoods including Dundonald, Confederation Park, College Park, Erindale and Silverwood Heights.
McGregor told Loucks that the best way to keep up to date with both planned and unplanned outages is on SaskPower’s Twitter page, which you can find here.
During the planned outages this week, SaskPower is upgrading its technology alongside another Crown corporation, SaskTel.
“SaskTel is upgrading their fibre optic internet network. While they’re doing that, we’re actually coming in behind them and installing some conduit cable,” McGregor said.
The cable will allow SaskPower to solve unplanned outages quicker, and will run through the ground and up the power pole.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, McGregor said SaskPower has kept things at “status quo” as much as they possibly can.
“We have to have our crews working. We’re taking steps to minimize public interaction points. We’re reducing the amount of non-essential work, putting most of it on hold temporarily.”
Other examples of changes include dispatching workers from their homes to minimize employee interaction, according to McGregor.