Calgary | Power Out For Downtown Residents Until Thursday

Enmax work crews attend to a massive power failure Sunday morning as a fire occurred in downtown area

Power should be restored by Thursday​ to thousands of downtown Calgary businesses and residents left in the dark on the weekend by an underground electrical fire.

The power outage hit approximately 2,100 businesses and 5,000 residents on Saturday night.

Late Monday afternoon, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice and Mayor Naheed Nenshi met with impacted downtown residents at an emergency information centre set up in the Mewata Armoury.

"I think it's fair to say that once again Calgary and Calgarians have risen to the challenge and are showing incredible resiliency and community spirit," Prentice said later in a press conference.

Power should be restored to the entire impacted section of the downtown by midday Thursday, said an Enmax official.

Transportation downtown should be almost back to normal for the Tuesday morning rush hour, Nenshi said during a news conference held early Monday at the Calgary Emergency Management Agency headquarters.


There will be some lane reductions, particularly on Eighth Street S.W., but traffic signals and C-Train service will be functioning.

"We are working on a traffic management plan for commuters entering into the downtown core," he said. "We believe there will be minimal disruptions. It will just be a miserable rush hour, as always."

Employers and employees need to check in with each other as it "will not be business as usual" in the impacted areas, Nenshi said

Displaced residents staying in hotels

The Mewata Armoury's emergency information centre was busy on Sunday with 361 people showing up seeking assistance. About 270 people were helped with overnight accommodation.

"We hope that we have made things just a little bit easier for the people who were affected by the power outage," he said. "Once again, if you have friends and family with whom you can stay, that is the most comfortable thing to do."

The information centre will close at 10 p.m. Monday and reopen at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Grace Eddy was at the armoury looking for help from the city because she only moved to Calgary two weeks ago.

"I don't know anyone and my family is in Ontario, so it was nice there was somewhere to come," she said. "It was scary coming here, but seeing that there was other people in the same situation made it a little bit more comforting."

CBC