Outage Statistics

This page lists all of the non-scheduled outages in the Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro Inc territory for the most recent calendar year. Efforts have been made to make outage causes in line with our regulated reporting requirements while simplifying for public use. Definitions for causes can be found at the bottom of the page. This page will be updated monthly to reflect the previous month’s outages.

SAIDI/SAIFI 2024

Chart showing monthly SAIDI and SAIFI values.

­­There are two standard indices used in the industry that measure outage performance. The first is the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) which measures, on average, how long NOTL Hydro customers are without power over the course of a year. NOTL Hydro is typically a little under an hour which is close to but slightly below the Ontario average. The second is the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) which measures, on average, how often NOTL Hydro customers are without power over the course of a year. Recently, NOTL Hydro has been averaging less than one average outage per customer which is well below the Ontario industry average. 

Outage Details 2024

DateCause# of CustomersAverage Outage Time per Customer (Minutes)
Jan 10 2024Scheduled32150
Jan 19 2024Vehicle863
Jan 25 2024Scheduled758
Feb 09 2024Scheduled11150
Feb 15 2024Scheduled490
Feb 28 2024Tree_contact_weather10868
Mar 04 2024Scheduled630
Mar 06 2024Equipment_Failure7420
Mar 24 2024Scheduled630
Mar 28 2024Scheduled27330
Apr 02 2024Equipment_Failure450102.83
Apr 08 2024Wildlife616
Apr 09 2024Scheduled24330
Apr 17 2024Tree_contact_weather4150
Apr 26 2024Non-Distributor_Activities22120
Apr 26 2024Scheduled11270
May 21 2024Equipment_Failure14476
May 22 2024Tree_contact_weather37155
May 24 2024Wildlife3643
May 21 2024Lightning9972
May 28 2024Scheduled1028
May 31 2024Scheduled6120
Jun 06 2024Scheduled1270
Jun 07 2024Wildlife430
Jun 13 2024Equipment_Failure178180
Jun 16 2024Tree_contact_weather1955
Jun 17 2024Wildlife538
Jun 17 2024Tree_contact_weather1050
Jun 18 2024Tree_contact_weather1142
Jun 18 2024Wildlife77728
Jun 19 2024Wildlife130
Jun 20 2024Lightning13158
Jun 23 2024Unknown3470
Jun 25 2024Tree_contact_weather135413
Jun 26 2024Wildlife10510
Jun 27 2024Wildlife635
Jul 02 2024Wildlife617
Jul 03 2024Scheduled20330
Jul 03 2024Tree_contact_weather83021
Jul 10 2024Tree_contact_weather11976
Jul 11 2024Wildlife5849
Jul 11 2024Scheduled25300
Jul 15 2024Lightning3243
Jul 16 2024Loss_of_Supply_Transmission365520
Jul 16 2024Loss_of_Supply_Transmission365523
Jul 17 2024Scheduled7150
Jul 25 2024Scheduled3150
Aug 02 2024Wildlife3158
Aug 03 2024Vehicle2078
Aug 05 2024Lightning1174
Aug 05 2024Lightning13871
Aug 05 2024Tree_contact_weather355
Aug 05 2024Tree_contact_weather2212
Aug 06 2024Wildlife429
Aug 07 2024Non-Distributor_Activities21400
Aug 09 2024Scheduled2120
Aug 11 2024Tree_contact_weather15152
Aug 13 2024Wildlife235
Aug 15 2024Wildlife1318
Aug 15 2024Scheduled35360
Aug 16 2024Broken_branch/tree_growth/untrimmed_tree392
Aug 18 2024Lightning189
Aug 18 2024Vehicle73124
Aug 22 2024Equipment_Failure728100
Aug 22 2024Scheduled3475
Aug 23 2024Wildlife3960
Aug 24 2024Wildlife1455
Aug 29 2024Equipment_Failure11790
Aug 30 2024Wildlife361
Aug 31 2024Lightning3491
Sep 02 2024Human Other (non-distributor staff)1510
Sep 02 2024Wildlife150
Sep 04 2024Wildlife430
Sep 05 2024Wildlife12520
Sept 05 2024Scheduled – Tree Removal11360
Sept 09 2024Scheduled – Tree Removal11360
Sept 27 2024Scheduled27360
Sept 28 2024Equipment Failure460
Oct 02 2024Tree_contact_weather776
Oct 02 2024Scheduled4135
Oct 03 2024Scheduled1150
Oct 18 2024Human Other (non-distributor staff)24730
Oct 19 2024Wildlife3044
Oct 24 2024Scheduled475
Oct 28 2024Loss_of_Supply_Transmission732720

Cause Codes

  • Scheduled -Interruption due to the disconnection at a selected time for the purpose of construction or maintenance.
  • Foreign Interference – Interruption caused by external factors, such as those caused by customer equipment, DERs not owned by distributors, animals, vehicles, dig-ins, vandalism, sabotage, foreign objects and cybersecurity events. These will be displayed by the following categories in the chart above:
    • Wildlife – Raccoon, squirrels, birds, etc.
    • Car Crash / Vehicle – Civilian crashes into poles, transformers or other system equipment.
    • Dig-in – Caused by civilian or 3rd party damage to underground infrastructure.
    • Customer Equipment – Caused by Customer-own equipment.
    • Human Other – none of the items above.
  • Tree Contact – Interruption caused by faults resulting from tree contact with energized circuits. Weather will be noted in the description if tree contact occurred during inclement weather.
  • Lightning – The lightning category includes all interruptions caused by lightning. This may be by a direct strike contacting the wires or another piece of equipment, or by a lightning- induced flashover of the wires or to another piece of equipment.
  • Equipment Failure – Interruption resulting from the failure of distributor-owned equipment due to deterioration, insufficient maintenance or defective equipment/material. Examples include:
    • An insulator burned out and caused an interruption.
    • A crossarm brace bolt broke and resulting in an interruption.
    • Corrosion caused a transformer oil leak resulting in an interruption.
    • Moisture entered a transformer and caused an interruption.
    • The interruption was caused by equipment failure but the root cause of the equipment failure is unknown.
  • Adverse Weather – Interruption due to distributor equipment being subject to abnormal environments, such as salt spray, industrial contamination, humidity, corrosion, vibration, fire or flooding.
  • Loss of Supply – Interruption due to problems associated with the transmission system (Hydro One). These outages can not be controlled by NOTL Hydro.
  • Human Element – Interruption due to the interface of distributor staff with the distribution system. Only interruptions caused by distributor staff should be reported under this cause code, including improper protection settings, improper system operation and improper construction & installation.
  • Unknown – Interruption with no apparent cause.