11 Hydro-Québec customers who lost power in winter storm yet to be reconnected

MONTREAL – Hydro-Québec says almost all of its customers who lost power in a Dec. 23 winter storm have now been reconnected.

Hydro spokesman Francis Labbé says 11 clients who lost power in the storm still don’t have electricity, after nearly 100 were reconnected earlier in the day.

He says all primary residences that lost power Dec. 23 have been reconnected and that 10 vacation properties and a sugar shack are still without power.

The storm, which brought wind, freezing rain and snow, at its height knocked out power for more than 350,000 hydro customers.

The long-lasting outages have raised concerns that Quebec’s grid is fragile and that the province is unprepared for its shift away from fossil fuels.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 1, 2023.