A rogue tree is the suspect in the territory’s most recent power outage.
Wednesday at 9:02 a.m., power went out in some parts of Riverdale, Porter Creek and all areas north of Porter Creek, including MacPherson, Crestview, Fox Lake, Braeburn, Carmacks, Pelly, the Minto mine and Faro.
“There is likely a tree on the line somewhere between Whitehorse and Faro,” said Yukon Energy Corp. spokesperson Janet Patterson.
Most areas had power restored by 9:20 a.m.
Faro fired up the diesels and it is back on, said Patterson.
Carmacks and Pelly are also likely up and running on diesel, she said.
“So, pretty much everyone is back on.”
Parts of Whitehorse went out because they are connected to the Takhini substation, which was affected, she said.
“It’s just the way the system is set up.”
Whitehorse is up and running on hydro again.
The tree took out a whole portion of the grid, but it fell north of Whitehorse, so power can be restored in some sections south of the hang up, said Patterson.
When a section comes back online, it rules that area out as a place where the tree may have fallen.
“We think the tree is closer to Faro than Whitehorse,” said Patterson.
“We have crews working on that as I speak.”
Once the tree is located and the line is repaired, Yukon Energy will “re-energize the system using hydro,” she added. (Genesee Keevil)