Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro officials are warning that there may not be enough electricity to meet demand â and rotating outages are possible.Â
âThere is a risk of a power emergency this weekend,â said Hydro’s vice-president of engineering and Newfoundland and Labrador system operator Rob Collett.Â
The reason?Â
For the first time since 1967, the Bay d’Espoir plant is completely shut down.
This is a breaking news story. A previous version of this story is below. Â
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Newfoundland Power are preparing for a news conference at 1 p.m. NT on Saturday.
The companies say it’s for an update on the Bay d’Espoir plant, and an outlook on the electricity system over the next 48 hours.
No other details have been confirmed, but it comes after days of warning customers to conserve power.
In a Saturday afternoon social media post, N.L. Hydro asked that residents avoid charging electric vehicles during peak hours like early mornings and evenings. They also want EV drivers to schedule vehicles to charge overnight and delay non-essential charging.
On Friday, Hydro issued a power warning because the electricity supply is getting close to maximum capacity due to high power demand and ongoing frazil ice issues at the Bay dâEspoir plant. Frazil ice forms in supercooled water, or water that remains liquid in below freezing temperatures. It consists of small ice crystals suspended in the water that can build up and block water intakes, which can impact water supply facilities like hydropower plants.
A team, including divers with special equipment, is working to remove ice in Bay dâEspoir, the company wrote Friday night.
CBC News will carry a livestream of the news conference.
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