Power banks, backup lights helped Saskpower
Tuesday’s power outage kept half of Regina in the dark for a good chunk of the day. Here’s how some businesses and residents coped, Ashley Martin reports
PUBLIC INFORMED
Saskpower’s media relations department was affected just like many others, but they had to keep working.
With a backup lighting system to light their office, the team moved to a meeting room where everyone was assigned to a different task. They kept busy updating social media, a blog and the power outage map on the Saskpower website, letting people know why their power was out and when it might be back on.
Laptops and phones stayed charged with battery banks, and Saskpower’s headquarters in Regina didn’t lose Wi-fi.
“We knew it was very important to get that public safety message out there ... about the state of the outage and who was without power,” said Saskpower spokesman Jordan Jackle.
For a while, they didn’t know what the message was.
“We actually weren’t entirely sure which areas were without power at some points of the morning,” said Jackle.
Without a smart grid, Saskpower only knows of a power outage when somebody alerts them to it.
The outage centre received 45,000 calls in total — 33,000 of those within the first three hours of the outage.
The online outage map got 310,000 hits in the 24 hours following the outage.
BEER KEEPS FLOWING
At 4:16 p.m. on Tuesday, Malty National tweeted, “Power is back on at the brewery. It’s just the same but brighter and louder.”
The taproom’s payment system runs by battery, and patrons even came prepared with cash just in case.
“The beer keeps flowing. Unfortunately the coffee shop closed down, but the beer does not require power to flow out of the wall,” said Malty National employee Aaron Brownlee.
Brewery owner Kelsey Beach went home to get a lantern, so the washroom wouldn’t be in total darkness.
With its heating system down, “I found it a little chilly, but no, it wasn’t too bad,” said Brownlee. “People weren’t complaining.”
NO ACTION AT CASINO
It was not business as usual at Casino Regina, where doors usually open at 9 a.m.
Luckily, the power going out at 8:58 a.m. meant there were no patrons on the gaming floor.
“The timing couldn’t have been better,” said Shanna Schulhauser, director of communications for Saskgaming.
Had people been gambling already, their machines would have been cashed out when the power came back on — which occurred at about 5 p.m.
Some employees, directors and managers stayed at work, to prepare to open the casino at about 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday night’s Christmas concert with Natalie Macmaster and Donnell Leahy went ahead as scheduled, although the sound check was shortened a bit.
Casino Regina saw 8.5 hours of lost revenue; Schulhauser couldn’t give a dollar amount.
Considering the $30.1 million in revenue Casinos Regina and Moose Jaw earned in the second quarter of 2018, it might have cost around $13,744.29 per hour.
RCSD IMPROVISES
Server access was a major hurdle for the Regina Catholic School Division (RCSD).
The division’s internet server is based at Miller High School, which was without power. RCSD couldn’t update its website or access families’ email addresses, and phone lines were down in some schools — so it was a challenge to alert families that classes were cancelled.
“So we did what the kids do today and turned to social media,” the RCSD explained in a letter to families on Thursday.
They called media outlets, teachers updated families using classroom apps, administrators phoned families, and parents phoned one another.
“We learned a lot that day. While not every step was perfect, every student and every staff member was safe. We were all warm, even if we needed a jacket. And best of all, we all had power again by the evening.”
HAVE A BACKUP
Have a plan: That’s the main piece of advice the Saskatchewan Safety Council has for businesses during a power outage.
That plan should include emergency lighting, said community relations co-ordinator Merissa Scarlett.
“Flashlights, batteries, and make sure somebody’s checking them. Emergency lights won’t work very well if nobody’s maintaining them,” said Scarlett, whose Regina office was also in the dark on Tuesday.