Power restored after 33,000 Londoners hit by morning outage
Hydro One says downed shield wire on a transmission line was to blame
The power is back for more than 33,000 London Hydro customers who were in the dark after a transmission line went offline Tuesday morning.
Power went offline around 7:15 a.m. and was fully restored just after 8:30 a.m.
The outage knocked out power to customers in the Central London, Highland, Hyde Park, Masonville, Medway, North London, Oakridge, South London, Southcrest and West London neighbourhoods.
In an interview, a Hydro One spokesperson told CBC News that the outage involved one of its transmission lines, which feeds into London's grid.
A shield wire, which protects power and transmission lines from lightning strikes, came down and, in doing so, took out a power line near one of Hydro One's London-area transmission stations. The exact location of the incident wasn't clear.
"(Crews) are on site, and they'll be making repairs today into tomorrow, but the power has been restored to all customers through London Hydro. They've restored through an alternate source to their customers," said Tiziana Baccega Rosa of Hydro One.
What caused the shield wire to come down is under investigation.
They are still identifying the cause of the downed transmission line, she said.
Power was out at London Health Sciences Centre's University Hospital and 54 Riverview Avenue Tuesday morning, but both continued operating with a backup generator, an LHSC spokesperson said. Power has returned at both locations.
Several schools with the Thames Valley District School Board were also impacted by the outage, but board officials say all schools remain open for a regular instruction day.