Extreme cold: Threat of rolling blackouts eases after Albertans warned to conserve power

The threat of rotating power outages eased late Saturday only hours after Albertans were warned to reduce electricity usage as brutally low temperatures, which sparked a days-long extreme cold warning, continue to wreak havoc.

“Albertans are asked to immediately reduce their electricity use to essential needs only,” stated a release from the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), issued alongside an Alberta Emergency Alert around 6:45 p.m. “Reducing peak electricity demand through province-wide conservation will minimize the high potential for rotating outages (Saturday) evening.”

Neudorf called on Albertans to:

• Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances;
• Minimize the use of space heaters; delay the use of major power-consuming appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers;
• Delay charging electric vehicles and/or plugging in block heaters;
• Cook with your microwave, crockpot or toaster oven instead of an electric stove or oven;
• Limit the use of kitchen or bathroom ventilation fans;
• Work on a laptop instead of a desktop computer;
• Unplug electric appliances when not in use, as they continue to drain energy even if they’re off (or use a power bar to cut power to multiple appliances with a single button);
• Close curtains/shades/blinds to cover drafty windows.

“Albertans have a history of pulling together in times of emergency,” Neudorf said in the statement. “If we all make small changes like those listed above, we can keep each other safe through another extremely cold evening.”

“Your conservation efforts quickly reduced electricity demand and the risk of rotating outages,” AESO wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

A few minutes later, the operator of the province’s electrical grid said its alert had ended.

The current cold conditions led to Alberta breaking a power consumption record on Thursday, while a power grid alert was also issued Friday.

Man killed after vehicle collides with snowplow in northeast Calgary

One man died after his vehicle collided with a snowplow to start a weekend in Calgary still plagued by extreme cold.

The accident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Friday when a Jeep collided head-on with a snowplow in the 3600 block of Westwinds Dr. N.E.

“As the road began to curve, the driver of the Jeep failed to negotiate the curve and entered the path of the oncoming snowplow, resulting in a fatal collision,” city police said in press release.

Westwinds Dr. between 54 Ave. N.E., and the entrance to McKnight-Westwinds LRT station was closed for several hours following the death of the 27-year-old man.

Speed is being investigated as a factor, say police.

Almost as life-threatening is the extreme cold caused by a polar vortex that’s plummeted windchill temperatures below -40C — a weather system that descended on the city mid-week.

The average high temperature for this time of year is -3C.

Extreme cold conditions place emergency medical services ‘on high alert’

EMS, meanwhile, continues to be busy dealing with victims of the arctic temperatures, responding to 60 weather-related calls since Tuesday morning, said Brideaux.

That’s 20 more than the tally as of Friday morning, he said.

“We’re on a high alert and certainly concerned about the welfare of the vulnerable population, especially people unhoused or living rough,” he said.

“Hopefully, this cold abates in a little while — at -40C, it’s another world and we work in this just like everyone else,” he said.

Emergency homeless shelters are at more than 90 per cent capacity, an official with the Calgary Homeless Foundation said Friday, with some of the unhoused population choosing to sleep on the streets due to safety concerns in the facilities.

But the foundation’s Matt Nomura said social agency workers are making the rounds to homeless encampments “ensuring safety and a compassionate approach asking, ‘how do we get you off the street.’ ”

“But there are individuals making the choice to sleep rough.”

Environment Canada has maintained an extreme cold warning with windchill temperatures expected to dip to -43C Sunday morning with a high reading of -37C during the afternoon.

“Frostbite in minutes,” said the federal agency’s website.

Temperatures are expected to rise to -18C Monday and rebound to -7C Tuesday.

But temperatures around -30C on Saturday continued to bedevil motorists who navigated icy streets and, in any immobilized scenarios had to abandon hope for a swift rescue.

Commuting and travel continue to be impacted by deep freeze

The Alberta Motor Association reported that drivers needing a tow or winching would have to wait 96 hours, while a battery boost or tire change wouldn’t be possible for 84 hours.

The bitterly arctic conditions continued to wreak havoc at the Calgary International Airport with its departure schedule as of 3:30 p.m. Saturday showing 14 cancelled flights — all involving WestJet — and 28 delays.

That’s an improvement over Friday afternoon when there were 38 cancelled flights — most of them WestJet aircraft — and 23 delays.

So frigid were conditions that de-icing procedures in a host of Western Canadian cities, including Calgary, weren’t possible, said WestJet.

“Due to ongoing extreme cold weather conditions targeting Canada’s prairie region and winter storm system that moved through Ontario yesterday evening, WestJet continues to face significant operational impacts cascading throughout our network,” WestJet spokeswoman Madison Kruger said in a statement Saturday.

“Additionally, to ensure safety above all, we continue to limit the amount of time our crews and ground partners are working outside, while frigid temperatures leave essential equipment such as bridges and fuel stations, inoperable.”

Travellers are being advised to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.

It’s so cold WinSport has extended its suspension of operations at its ski-snowboarding hill until Monday due to the frigid conditions.

And some Calgary businesses are freezing their activities, including the Deane House Restaurant in Inglewood, which posted on X on Saturday they’re “temporarily closed due to damages incurred during the extreme cold temperatures.”