Understanding Your ETR: Why Restoration Times Change

When a large power outage occurs, our goal is to get the lights back on for as many people as possible, as fast as possible. You may notice your Estimated Time of Restoration (ETR) change during an outage. Here is why that happens:

• We start big: When an outage first hits, we use remotely operated switches to reroute power. This can restore thousands of customers in minutes.
• We find the source: Our crews then patrol the lines to find the physical cause (like a fallen branch or broken pole). Once found, we issue a preliminary ETR. This is an average time for the whole area.
• We shrink the outage: As crews work, the System Operating Centre can often find ways to further isolate the damaged lines or equipment. This allows us to bring more neighbourhoods back online earlier than the first ETR estimate.
• We focus on the repair: For the small group of customers closest to the damage, the repair might be complex. We update the ETR at this stage to give these remaining customers the most accurate, specific timeline possible.

The Bottom Line: A changing ETR means our crews are making progress, narrowing down the problem, providing a more accurate ETR, and working safely to restore your power.

Watch our video to learn more about how ETRs change during an outage and how our crews work to restore your power safely.