Outages & Emergencies

Current Outages

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Is your power out?

In Kakisa, Dory Point, Fort Providence, Sambaa K’e, Wekweeti, Hay River, Enterprise and the K’at’lodeeche First Nation, call 867-874-6879 or 1-800-264-5313 (toll free) to report an outage.

In Yellowknife and N’Dilo, call 867-873-4865. 

Call us any day, any time. We're on call 24/7 for you.

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Outage Tips

We do our best to avoid interruptions to your electrical service, but outages sometimes occur. While we're working quickly to restore your power, these tips can shed some light on how to manage during an outage.

Be ready - prepare in advance for a power outage

Don't get caught in the dark! Prepare for potential power outages to ensure you and your family are safe if there’s no power.

  • Download ATCO’s Power Pack Guide for a list of items to have on hand in case there's a power outage. After you build your Power Pack, place it where it’s easy to find. Will you know how to find it in the dark?
  • Take inventory of the items you need that rely on electricity.
  • Plan for batteries and other alternative power sources to meet your needs when the power goes out, such as a portable charger or power bank.
  • Have flashlights for every household member. Determine whether your home phone will work in a power outage and how long battery backup will last.
  • Stay current about planned outages through our website.
  • What to do in a power outage.
    • Determine whether the power failure is limited to your home. If your neighbour's power is still on, check your main electric panel and breaker to make sure it wasn’t a blown/tripped fuse. Move any tripped switches to the ‘off’ position and then to the ‘on’ position. 
    • Check our website, X (Twitter) or Facebook to see if it is an outage. If the outage hasn't been reported, call 1-867-873-4865 (Yellowknife) or 1-867-874-6879 or 1-800-264-5313 (NWT). It may take some time to get through while other customers also report power interruptions. Thank you for your patience.
    • Keep freezers and refrigerators closed.
    • Use home generators ONLY outdoors and away from windows. If your generator is connecting to your electrical panel, ensure you use a rated transfer device to prevent back feed into the power system. 
    • Do not use a gas stove or oven to heat your home.
    • Disconnect appliances and electronics to minimize risk and to avoid damage from electrical surges.
    • Have alternate plans for refrigerating medicines or using power-dependent medical devices.
    • Preserve heat, where possible. Close blinds and drapes and avoid opening doors to keep heat from escaping. 
    • Check with your local officials about cooling locations open near you.
  • Why does power go out?
    • Extreme weather: Most power outages are caused by severe weather. Strong winds can topple trees onto power lines. Lightning may strike power poles, lines or other equipment. Freezing rain, heavy snow or frost can build up on lines and break or damage them.
    • Construction and vehicle accidents: Another common cause of outages is accidental contact, including underground or overhead power lines at construction sites, and vehicle accidents with power poles, lines or other equipment.
    • Animals: Birds, squirrels, and other animals may contact equipment or chew into a power line.
    • Planned maintenance: Sometimes, we need to interrupt service to work on the system safely. We try to avoid this but when we can’t, we give customers as much notice as possible.
    • Supply and demand: Service disruptions can occur when electricity supply doesn’t meet demand, such as when a generating unit goes down during a heat wave or peak use. 
    • Equipment failure: Though we regularly inspect, maintain and update our equipment, occasionally cables, connectors, switches or other equipment fail and trigger an outage.
  • What do I do once power has been restored?
    • Once power has been re-established to homes and businesses, limit power usage to only critical needs at first. This can help prevent further outages. The electrical grid may be at limited capacity and could be overwhelmed by a surge in demand.
    • Generator power does not have the same reliability when powering from the grid, so simple energy conservation measures could dramatically reduce the potential of further outages while our crews are still repairing infrastructure in unpredictable weather.
    • Some energy saving tips: 
      • Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances
      • Minimize the use of space heaters 
      • Reduce the use of major power-consuming appliances, such as washers, dryers, stoves and dishwashers 
      • Use cold water for washing clothes 
      • Delay charging electric vehicles or using trickle chargers for vehicles and equipment
    • While asking customers to conserve power isn’t ideal, we do so to give the electrical grid a chance to stabilize and help avoid further outages.