Power outages related to Taltson's return-to-service delayed in Fort Smith and Hay River, N.W.T.

Planned power outages in Fort Smith and Hay River expected to happen Friday through Sunday have been postponed, according to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC). 

The outages were part of the plan to bring the Taltson hydro facility back online after a nearly two-year overhaul project. NTPC said it needed to test whether the upgraded system — which includes a new turbine and generator — would remain stable after making the switch from diesel to hydro. 

NTPC spokesperson Doug Predergast said Friday that the delay was related to a fault on the transmission line between Taltson and Fort Smith. It will take a helicopter to get there and investigate, he said, and there was no helicopter available until Saturday.

He said the outages were originally planned for this weekend based on the "best information at the time."

"So the slippage of, you know, a day here or there is not completely unexpected," he said.

"You have to remember that the system has not been operating for the past year and a half, so some issues were expected."

NTPC said in a social media post that it would share a new schedule for outages on social media soon. 

Prendergast said there will be a total of four power outages, each less than half an hour, in Fort Smith, and three in Hay River.

The tests are required before the Taltson facility can begin powering the territory's South Slave region with hydro again. The region has relied on diesel generators since May 2023.

"We are working hard to get Taltson back in service, but we need to make sure that we do it safely and we also want to make sure that we do it right," Prendergast said.

"The refurbished Taltson is going to deliver clean hydro to the South Slave for the next 50 to 60 years, so additional time we take now to absolutely get it right will certainly pay off in the long term."