Massive power outage on May 1 caused by human error: Hydro One

In a phone interview, a Hydro One spokesperson said the cause of 34,065 PUC customers being without power on May 1 came down to someone pulling the wrong switch

Hydro One says the massive power outage that happened in the Sault on May 1 was caused by someone making a mistake.

“The May 1 outage affecting PUC customers was caused by a switching error made by a crew working at the Third Line Transmission Station,” said Tiziana Baccega Rosa, a spokesperson for Hydro One.

“We apologize for the disruption this caused customers.”

In a phone interview, Baccega Rosa said the cause of 34,065 PUC customers who were without power from 11 a.m. to approximately 12:18 p.m. came down to human error.

“There’s a number of switches in the station and they accidentally pulled the wrong one,” she said.

In case you don’t have a degree in electrical engineering, here’s a short video explaining what transmission stations do.