Over 1,500 Hydro-Quebec customers still without power in Montreal

In Montreal, more than 1,500 Hydro-Quebec customers remain without power, and more than 2,500 were in the dark as of around 7:45 p.m Sunday. Of the service interruptions in Montreal, a handful were in the Parc-Extension area, where Daniella Zanetti witnessed a power line explosion that sparked a fire on Saturday night.

"At the moment of filming, the firemen were already there, and they were trying to find a way to access the alley since there was a lot of snow," said Zanetti. "We still don't have electricity."

According to Hydro-Quebec, the explosion likely occurred because a conductor melted under the strain of so much demand and then sagged onto a telecom wire. 

A fire in a Montreal alleyway occurred Feb. 4, 2023 during a power outage in Parc-Extension that lasted over a day.

Quebecers broke the record for electricity demand over the cold snap that started Friday and continued through Saturday.

"There can always be faulty equipment, there can always be damage to equipment, and the equipment has a certain lifespan after which it's more likely to break down. So we're never going to completely get rid of any outages," said spokesperson Jonathan Côté. 

The situation prompted the need for Hydro-Quebec to purchase power from Ontario and New York State. 

With files from CTV's Max Harrold.