April 24, 2014 - 9:36 AM
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A consultant's report on Newfoundland's power failures in January blames insufficient generation and equipment maintenance, and says there's an "unacceptably high risk" of future blackouts.
The report by Pennsylvania-based Liberty Consulting Group was prepared for the provincial Public Utilities Board as it investigates the power failures.
Rotating and unplanned outages on the island for six days starting on Jan. 2 at one point affected up to 190,000 customers.
Liberty Consulting says a lack of power to meet customer demand was on top of a lack of maintenance work to ensure backup generation was available.
It recommends that Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro plan its resources to meet more severe weather than it has assumed in the past.
And it says the electricity company must review its planning criteria for adding new generation capacity as it faces an "unacceptably high risk of outages" for the next three winters.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014