The Mayor of Côte Saint-Luc emphasizes the urgent need to upgrade the Hydro-Québec substation serving three Montreal neighborhoods to prevent further power outages.
A recent breaker failure at the Hampstead substation, slated for an upgrade in 2029, plunged thousands of Montreal residents into darkness and cold during a freezing weekend.
The affected substation caters to residents of Côte Saint-Luc, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, and Hampstead.
Mayor David Tordjman expressed concerns about the aging infrastructure, stressing that the replacement should have been prioritized much earlier. Hydro-Québec has acknowledged the issue.
Following the outage peak on Saturday morning, around 15,000 households in Montreal were left without power, with Côte Saint-Luc and NDG bearing the brunt.
Hydro-Québec assured customers that restoration efforts are underway, with fewer than 50 customers still without electricity at the latest update.
To prevent future outages until the substation upgrade, Hydro-Québec is implementing contingency plans, including backup systems and generators, over the next three years.
Mayor Tordjman is pushing for quicker action to ensure resident safety, with a promise from Hydro-Québec to expedite the process.
The planned upgrade of the Hamstead substation, to be renamed the Côte Saint-Luc substation, is part of Hydro-Québec’s broader project to enhance the power transmission system in Montreal’s west end to meet escalating energy demands.
