Power outages are never convenient. While we work to prevent them, they can happen and are often due to severe weather or other environmental factors beyond our control.
When power outages occur, our crews work to restore power safely and quickly as possible.
Our number one priority is to restore power quickly and safely.
If you're without power here’s what to do:
Storm response and restoration
Widespread and fast-moving storms can move across the province quickly, causing unplanned power outages for our customers. We closely monitor weather and wildfire conditions across our service territory and prepare in advance using detailed system monitoring and forecasting tools. Knowing where severe weather is likely to occur allows us to plan ahead, deploy power line technician crews and bring in additional resources when needed.
Estimated restoration time
The estimated restoration times (ETRs), when available, are shown on the FortisAlberta outage map. As our control centre, dispatch and field teams assess damage and complete repairs, we update these times as new information becomes available.
Following major weather events, crews may discover additional damage once they arrive on site, which can affect restoration times. Our priority is to restore power safely while keeping customers informed.
What areas do crews focus on first?
We’re ready for any situation and we work 24/7 to get your power back on as efficiently as possible. When outages occur, our crews restore power in order of priority, starting with areas that have the greatest impact on public safety and essential services.
- Substations
- Critical customers and communications
- Mid-level infrastructure and neighbourhoods
- Individual homes and businesses
Your cooperation, patience and preparedness during restoration efforts is appreciated.
What to do if you’re without power- Check your breaker to ensure it hasn’t tripped.
- Visit the outage map to see if there is an outage in your area.
- Report the outage by calling 310WIRE (9473) or reporting it online.
To prepare yourself for potential power outages, visit Prepare for a Power Outage for tips, resources and instructions about how to sign up for outage alerts.
Outage Alerts
When there's a power outage, we know how important it is for you to have the most current information as possible. Power outage alerts will inform you:
Register for an account for email and text alerts.
Sign up for power outage alerts
Check your breaker
If it’s not an outage in your area, you’ll need to check your breaker and make sure you:
- Unplug or turn off all appliances to protect them in the event of a surge, and for your own safety.
- Leave one light on so you’ll know when electricity is restored.
- Check to see if any of the switches on your breaker have tripped to the “off” position. Restoring power may be as simple as flipping any tripped switches to “off” then “on” again.
IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTION: At no time should you open any part of FortisAlberta equipment to open your breaker. If it seems you need to open something, you’re probably at the transformer. Do not open anything! Locate your meter, that’s where the main breaker will be.
If you’re unsure about the location of your meter, you can call 310-WIRE (9473) for help.
Prepare for an Outage
There’s an app for that: Before an outage happens, download the Emergency Public Warning System mobile app.