Some Calgarians who lost power in this weeks snowstorm are discovering that getting it back isnt as simple as calling the utility company.
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Enmax says that if the storm knocked out the connection between a home and the power line known as the service masthead it's up to the homeowner to hire an electrician to get it fixed.
We cannot safely re-energize that property until that damage has been fixed, said Enmax spokeswoman Doris Kaufmann Woodcock.
Southwest Calgary homeowner Jenaya King says she wishes the city utility had told her right away that the work was her responsibility so she could have called an electrician sooner.
I got a call from my electrician and he said that he couldnt get to my house for a whole week. So now Im left in the dark, in the cold for a whole week, or until I find another electrician, she said.
Lake Bonavista resident Suzanne Wright, who has been without power since Tuesday, said it cost her $2,000 to have a certified electrician re-attach the power line at her house ahead of re-energizing by an Enmax crew.
'What if somebody doesn't have the money'
What bothers me is, what if somebody doesn't have that money? What if you're renting or you've just bought yourself a new house? You don't have $2,000.
Electricians say they've been inundated with calls from people trying to get their power back on.
Kaufmann Woodcock says the number of Calgarians left without power continues to drop, but it was at about 1,000 at last count. About half of the residences on the Tsuu Tina Nation southwest of Calgary have also been reconnected after the electricity supply was disrupted on Wednesday which prompted an Alberta Emergency Alert.
We have made progress, particularly overnight, she said.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has said it will also take some time to clear away the broken tree branches scattered on roads and sidewalks around the city.