Half of Penetang faces blackout next weekend

(OSPREY) — A large portion of the eastern half of Penetanguishene will face a blackout on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m.

Barrie Hydro says it will be turning off the power to an area east from Main Street to Fuller Avenue and from Brunelle Sideroad to the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene. The outage will affect about 2,400 Hydro customers.

Penetanguishene General Hospital will not be affected because the switching will be configured to allow the hospital to remain in service.

A letter from Barrie Hydro to the town said that Tech Form requested an outage on two of its customer-owned stations on Centennial Drive.

“In order for this work to be completed safely,” said the letter, “Barrie Hydro needs to arrange an outage which will effect two other customer-owned substations, as well as the municipal substation located on Centennial Drive.”

The letter from John Hamilton said Barrie Hydro acknowledge that outages of this type are disruptive to both residential and industrial customers. However, it added, “the safety of workers and members of the public must take priority.”