An overall view of the city after a winter storm hit St.John's. N.L., Sunday, Jan.5, 2014. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale says her government will be asking large consumers of energy to conserve power as the province grapples with power outages and rolling blackouts following a heavy storm.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly
January 05, 2014 - 8:56 AM
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale says her government will be asking large consumers of energy to conserve power as the province grapples with power outages and rolling blackouts following a heavy storm.
Dunderdale says energy conversation will be paramount in the coming weeks and the government will be asking large consumers of energy to close or reduce operations over the next few days.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says a fire broke out at its Sunnyside terminal station around 9 a.m. Saturday after a transformer malfunctioned.
The malfunction came days after rotating blackouts were implemented by the utility as it tried to cope with increased demand because of bitterly cold temperatures.
Dunderdale says those factors combined with a blizzard that ripped through the region overnight Friday has caused demand for energy to increase significantly.
Newfoundland Power says about 35,000 customers were without power as of noon local time, down from 190,000 at the height of the outage Saturday morning.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014