Several hundred thousand people lost electricity for a short period of time on Tuesday morning.
Hydro Quebec reported 197 separate failures in the Montreal area, with 277,822 homes and businesses without power as of 8 a.m.
The temperature in Montreal when the power failures began was very cold, with weather stations at Trudeau airport indicating it was -22C.
Demands for electricity in Quebec are highest in winter during cold snaps, since the vast majority of homes are heated with electricity.
The expected high temperature for Tuesday was forecast to be -18C.
About an hour after the failures were first reported Hydro Quebec said it had traced the problem to a broken piece of equipment, and that power was being gradually restored.
Panne liée à un bris d’équipement. Le problème est maintenant réglé. Nous réalimentons progressivement nos clients.
— Hydro-Québec (@hydroquebec) January 13, 2015
À 8h20, 159 000 clients étaient encore privés d’électricité. Le rétablissement du service est prévu d’ici environ 1 heure.
— Hydro-Québec (@hydroquebec) January 13, 2015
At 9:15 a.m., the power has been restored for more than 97 % of affected customers.
— Hydro-Québec (@hydroquebec) January 13, 2015
