Transmission line issue leads to power outage for thousands in N.S.

An unexpected power outage temporarily left thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers without electricity on a sunny Saturday free of inclement weather to strain the system.

Utility spokeswoman Kathryn O'Neill said in an email that an interruption in the transmission line to New Brunswick caused an outage that affected communities across the province.

O'Neill said the unspecified problem required power crews to interrupt electricity.

"When an interruption on this critical line occurs, it may require our team to interrupt power until we can confirm the safe operation of the line and restore power," she said. "Once the tie to New Brunswick was stabilized, power to our customers was carefully restored in groups to avoid a surge on the grid."

O'Neill added the system performed safely and as designed in order to protect the grid, adding the cause of the outage was still being determined.

"Our initial investigation indicates that a buildup of ice on the transmission line from the storm earlier this week may have been related to the outage," she said.

Power went out in parts of the Halifax area and the South Shore and as far east as Cape Breton and several points in between just after 10:30 a.m.

The private utility's online outage map showed just under 47,000 customers were affected provincewide at one point.

About 100 customers were still without electricity asof mid-afternoon Saturday.