Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
ATCO is facing challenges with restoring electricity to the Municipality of Jasper as firefighters continue to battle the blaze north of town.
On Wednesday evening, power had come back to two-thirds of the town鈥檚 estimated 5,000 residents. By Thursday morning at around 9:45 a.m., power was lost once again.
It was a result of one of the many technical difficulties that technicians are experiencing in dealing with the generator power system.
鈥淭he complexity of integrating generator power into a utility system to community of this size and scale is extremely challenging and our team of experts are working through these technicalities,鈥� said Amanda Mattern, ATCO Electric regional manager, during a daily press briefing on Thursday morning.
Generator power is not as reliable as the transmission system, she said, and there are many factors that can affect the system.
The biggest challenge is building a system with equipment from various vendors and getting all the controls to communicate with each other without tripping the system.
鈥淐onnecting a generator power system would normally require weeks of engineering, design and testing before we would go live as we respond to the crisis to support the town,鈥� Mattern said.
鈥淲e have to work through the co-ordination of these technicalities on site with our team of experts.鈥�
Mayor Richard Ireland said the situation remains precarious.
To help reduce the load and allow more of the community to receive power, the municipality has reverted to operating its wastewater treatment plant on its own back-up generator capacity.
鈥淲e are still without reliable, consistent generator power supplied by ATCO and current power to the community will be redirected to the wastewater treatment plant if required,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淚f power demand exceeds capacity, we will again be required to make decisions to limit the band to ensure critical services can be supported.鈥�
Firefighters on the south side of the wildfire reportedly made progress laying hose and sprinklers, and also removing brush and trees with hand ignition to tie together an already existing fire break. Airtankers requested from Alberta Wildfire safely dropped retardant on Wednesday.
The wildfire is still estimated to be 5,500 hectares in size and a full evaluation of the damage to ATCO鈥檚 transmissions infrastructure is ongoing. Rebuilding could take up to several weeks depending on the scale of the damage. If the wildfire continues to spread, further damage could be incurred.
Residents and business can expect to be on generator power during this time.
Most stores and restaurants are now closed due to the outage. Bank branches are also closed, and grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies and the post office are offering reduced services if any.
The public is being told that now is not the time to visit Jasper.
Parks Canada has expanded some of the closures to ensure the safety of people and wildfire operations. Campground closures particularly helps conserve power that ATCO is working to provide to the town.
鈥淐urrently, the power supply is unreliable and even the incident command post is out of power,鈥� said Katie Ellsworth, plans section chief on the Chetamon Wildfire for Parks Canada.
The situation has offered unprecedented challenges and all have responded with unprecedented determination, Ireland said.
鈥淛asper residents and businesses have demonstrated remarkable adaptability resilience, goodwill, kindness, and calmness in the face of the present calamity. But even as parts of the town become re energized, those admirable characteristics must continue. We are far from over this emergency.鈥�
All Jasperites are asked to use energy sparingly by doing the following:
- turn off extra lights and appliances;
- minimize use of air conditioning or heaters;
- reduce the use of washers, dryers, stoves and dishwashers;
- use cold water for washing clothes; and
- delay charging electric vehicles or using trickle chargers.
The Reception Centre at the Jasper Activity Centre has expanded services today in response to the evolving situation. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., residents will find: 聽聽聽聽聽聽
- information from Parks Canada, ATCO and the Municipality;
- charging stations to power devices;
- free hot soup being served from 12-3 p.m. while quantities last
- access to a microwave; and
- access to a hot shower as availability allows.
Cooler temperatures and smoke in the air are forecast for Thursday, but temperatures are forecast to go up and dry air will return towards the weekend.
Below are links for more updates and other resources:
- ATCO鈥檚 website for updates:
- Municipality of Jasper: and
- Please respect all closures and restrictions:
- Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement for areas around the Chetamon wildfire in Jasper National Park.
- For more information about the impact of smoke call Health Link 8-1-1 or visit
- You can find a live smoke forecast here:
- For road access updates call 5-1-1 or visit
- No matter what the weather or time of year, you can be prepared for any emergency. Here are some tips:
