Here's what's causing unplanned power outages in Regina

SaskPower's head office in Regina is seen in this file photo.

Regina and its immediate surrounding area has experienced more than 150 unplanned outages so far in 2022. The reasons for unplanned outages in the Queen City are a complicated issue, according to SaskPower.

“About a third of our unplanned outages are caused by weather events,” Joel Cherry, a spokesperson for SaskPower, told CTV News.

“About one third is caused by equipment failure, the other third is related to other natural factors such as trees coming into contact with lines, and wildlife [which] is a big one in Regina.”

According to Cherry, outages peak during the summer storm season and become more sporadic and isolated in the winter months.

“Obviously in the real world. You can't prevent 100 per cent of outages, because we are at the mercy of the elements to some degree,” he said.

• Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device

This year’s unplanned outage count in the Regina area has totaled 159 so far. For the past two years, unplanned outages in and around the Queen City have consistently totalled over 200 annually.

Unplanned outages affecting 50 or more customers (Source: SaskPower)

• 2020 – 210 - 17.5 per month
• 2021 – 264 - 22 per month
• 2022 – 159 - 19.8 per month (Jan. to Aug.)

Aging infrastructure is an ongoing issue SaskPower is working on according to Cherry. Much of the effort is going into replacing equipment in the downtown area.

“In downtown Regina, we've been replacing underground infrastructure that has been there for quite some time,” he explained.

“This year alone, we're spending $8 million downtown, we're trying to replace underground cabling and ducting that’s come to the end of its life.”

Besides uncontrollable weather and equipment failure, wildlife and several other factors remain an issue for the provincial crown corporation.

“Wildlife is a big one here. We have a lot of squirrels, that sort of thing that can get into our equipment,” Cherry said.

“One of the things that we're doing is installing wildlife guards on our transformers to make that less likely to happen.”

As part of SaskPower’s 2022-23 “Infrastructure Sustainment Plan” $50 million has been allocated to repair and upgrade the power distribution across the province, with an additional $45 million being spent in Regina alone.

According to Cherry, SaskPower is also working to incorporate a battery storage system into the grid, to capture and store energy created by renewable means, such as solar and wind.

“These are all things that we're doing to try to make sure that we have a resilient system here.”

More information about the various causes of unplanned outages as well as a complete breakdown of SaskPower’s infrastructure sustainment plan can be found on its website.