Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution is investigating an outage that left more than 5,000 residences and businesses without power in Newmarket Aug. 28.
The power outage began Sunday morning, with multiple residents reporting hearing a loud bang before it occurred. Crews worked throughout the day to gradually bring more customers back online, with most having electricity again in the afternoon.
Communications coordinator Blaine Osmond said the exact cause is still to be determined.
“We are aware that multiple circuits were impacted, including some owned by Hydro One,” he said. “We are asking our customers to be patient and understanding as we investigate the root cause of Sunday’s outage.”
The outage impacted those around the Mulock Drive and Bayview Avenue area, as well as Mulock and Yonge Street.
There were several accounts of loud bangs beforehand enough that people woke up throughout the night. The outage began around 7 a.m.
"It woke me up. I thought it was thunder,” one resident said on social media.
“Out on William Roe, we heard the biggest bang, and it scared my toddler awake,” another resident said.
Although there was a number for customers to call, several said it was hard to get through to speak with anyone at Newmarket-Tay while the situation was being resolved.
The electricity provider has had some smaller outages earlier in summer, but nothing impacting this many customers. One planned outage occurred earlier this month around Queen Street, which impacted 164 customers.
