Power still cut off in parts of N.L.

Parts of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, northwest of St. John’s, are getting back to normal after freezing rain knocked out power last Friday, but two communities —Daniel’s Cove and Old Perlican — will likely remain in the dark until late Thursday.

“Over the next few days, as we continue to repair the main transmission lines that serve that area, there still can be some bumps along the way,” said Newfoundland Power spokesperson Michelle Coughlan.

“So, what we’re asking all over — our customers both in that area and the Bonavista area — is, until we get the system up and running and stabilized, is to really continue to conserve using power and to only use what’s absolutley necessary so we can continue to keep the power on for all of our customers.”

About 900 homes and businesses were still without power in eastern Newfoundland on Tuesday evening as crews worked to fix final connections.

Newfoundland Power said it is making progress restoring power on the Bonavista Peninsula and on the northern Avalon Peninsula, particularly in Conception Bay. They hoped to have power restored there by Tuesday evening.

“We’ve made some good progress in that area,” Gary Smith, Newfoundland Power’s vice-president of customer operations and engineering, told CBC News.

The region was hobbled Friday and Saturday when an ice and wind storm knocked down hundreds of utility poles and lines, leaving about 8,000 homes in the dark.

Newfoundland Power said the combination of rain, ice and wind that brought about the outage — and hampered crews trying to repair lines — was the worst in more than 25 years.

“These are tremendous events,” Smith said.

While Newfoundland Power is expecting to restore service to most communities by the end of Tuesday, Smith cautioned that it might take longer to address problems affecting some individual customers.

Regardless of how long the power outage lasts, customers hoping for a credit on their electricity bill shouldn’t hold their breath.

Despite being without power for several days, customers can’t receive a credit on their base rate since there’s no mechanism in place to figure out how much each individual household should get, said Smith.

In the meantime, many left without electricity are keeping warm by turning to portable generators and other sources of heat and energy.

“We have our propane stove hooked up here,” said New Perlican resident Lorraine Lafitte.

“We can cook, we’ve got heat, we’ve got lights — perfect. You can’t beat rural Newfoundland and Labrador.”