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Power knocked out south of Buffalo Lake

Just as many people south and east of Buffalo Lake retired for the night Monday, hundreds of customers were without power

Just as many people south and east of Buffalo Lake retired for the night Monday, hundreds of customers were without power for several hours before ATCO Electric repaired the breakdown.

“Crews found a faulty insulator on Highway 601 about two miles west of Highway 56,” said Allan Gano ATCO’s east-central district manager, based in Stettler.

Power was knocked out about 9:30 p.m. for about 1,000 customers south of Buffalo Lake in the summer villages of Rochon Sands and White Sands north to Highway 53 and east to Highway 56, he said.

“Crews responded immediately when they isolated the problem and restored power to about 900 customers within two hours and to the remaining customers around 4:30 in the morning.” Gano said.

Cause of the fault was created by a heavy rainfall in the area, he said.

“The first rain and moisture will bring out a problem,” Gano said.

“The insulator has degraded over time and moisture will allow the insulator to conduct when it shouldn’t conduct.”

Gano and ATCO Electric thank customers for their patience and understanding during the outage.

When power goes out, he urges customers to call the emergency line at 1-800- 668-5506 to report the case or when a power line or pole falls or is damaged.