NB Power said an outage planned for the Saint Andrews region has been postponed.
“Following further discussions with stakeholders and in consideration of local concerns raised by local businesses around timing, we’ve rescheduled the work,” said NB Power spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser.
IT said the work would be rescheduled but did not say when it would take place.
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Original story below:
The owner of The Kennedy House in Saint Andrews said he only received 48 hours notice the whole municipality would be without power for upgrades to the NB Power infrastructure in the area.
Dominique Berlenger said he received a call from the utility’s customer service line around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, informing him of a planned power outage from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursday, June 26.
“Long story short, I said from a business perspective, I think this is wrong, very late and (an) ill-timed intervention,” he said in an interview with The Courier.
Berlenger runs a hotel and restaurant, and he has guests coming who made their reservation months in advance. He’s also had to cancel a few dinners to accommodate the kitchen closing earlier.
It is also five days before one of the biggest tourism days in Saint Andrews – Canada Day. Last year, businesses were left in the lurch following contact with wildlife and NB Power infrastructure in the area.
He said he is not against the upgrade and understands the need for it, but takes issue with the timing and communication of the upgrades.
“If there is one thing we have learned, it is that communication and consultation is key to keep things moving and at least keep the goodwill going,” he said. “We are in the start of our busiest season.”
He said this is when businesses need to make their money.
“Right now, you plan on doing these upgrades, I find that, in all fairness, mind boggling,” he said.
Berlenger said he has generators running to keep the food in his fridges and freezers safe, but those are not capable of powering the whole house.
The days are warm, he said, and he is concerned about year-round residents and guests not having air conditioning either.
“If you give me a lead time of 48 hours, that is basically impossible to call customers, and say, ‘hey, you know what this is what is going to happen,’ ” he said.
The Town of Saint Andrews shared a post to its Facebook page advising residents on June 25 about the planned outage.
“NB Power has noted that this is a priority one issue that needs to be addressed,” the post said. “If the repairs are not completed shortly, there could be more damage and that could lead to an unplanned outage that could take days to repair versus the scheduled time noted.”
The town said it did ask for a later time for the outage to start, but linescrews need some daylight to do their repair and upgrade work.
“The planned maintenance and upgrades are moving ahead and are scheduled for the least disruption overall,” he said.
NB Power said in a statement the work is to “install more wildlife guards to help prevent unplanned outages like the ones seen on Canada Day last year and this past May.”
“We are also using this planned outage as an opportunity to complete some priority maintenance and hot spot repairs at the same time, all of which will improve reliability for the area,” said NB Power spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser in an email.
The utility has arranged for crews from Rothesay and Fredericton to be working with the St. Stephen crews to ensure the work is done as efficiently and quickly as possible.
“We appreciate their patience as crews conduct this important work,” Fraser said.
