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Power restored in Behchokǫ̀ and Yellowknife after outages

There was a lengthy power outage in Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀ on Saturday afternoon. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation says power was restored in Behchokǫ̀ about one hour after the outage began, but some parts of Yellowknife are still without power.

NTPC says power has been restored in Behchokǫ̀ and "the majority" of Yellowknife

Buildings in snow.
A diesel generating plant in Behchokǫ̀ in March 2022. (Liny Lamberink/CBC)

Power has been mostly restored after an unusually long power outage affecting Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀ on Saturday afternoon.

The Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) acknowledged the outage in a 3:15 p.m. MT post on social media.

The power corporation said power had been restored to Behchokǫ̀ in another social media update at about 4:15 p.m.

In Yellowknife, NTPC said power had been restored to the "the majority of the community" by about 5 p.m.

"We are working with Naka Power to resolve issues on one feeder," NTPC said.

But many people in Yellowknife didn't see their power return until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., with intermittent outages after this.

In Yellowknife, power is supplied by NTPC and distributed by Naka Power Yellowknife.

In Behchokǫ̀, power is supplied and provided by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Both communities get most of their energy from the Snare Hydro System, with Yellowknife getting additional hydroelectric power from the Bluefish hydro system. Both communities also have backup diesel power plants.

In an email, NTPC spokesperson Doug Prenderghast said the power outage is believed to have originated in Yellowknife's power distribution system, and not during power generation.

CBC has reached out to Naka Power Yellowknife for more information about the outage.