The recent loss of power to heated bus shelters around Wood Buffalo were caused when the RMWB cut the power because there was exposed wiring that needed to be addressed. Three of the local bus shelters had wiring that was exposed but almost all of the 272 shelters in the municipality were without power as a result. The RMWB sent out an email response that explained the decision to power down was made after three of the shelters located on Barber Drive, Beacon Hill Drive, and Lougheed Drive were discovered to have issues with damaged protective casings for wiring, exposed wires, and “disrupting the power supply.” All of the shelters with the exception of 3 were powered down in what was called an “extra-precautionary measure”. Once the power was cut safety inspections were conducted on bus shelters to ensure that the same problems were not present.

The 3 bus shelters that have not been impacted by the power cut are the heated shelters located at the River City Centre, the Main Street shelter, and the one at the Peter Pond Mall. The RMWB email explained that these 3 bus shelters were still “fully operational as they were not affected.” The power is expected to be restored to the bus shelters at some point early this week as long as things go as planned. There was some initial concern because the reason for the power down was not explained for two days after it first occurred. The RMWB explained by saying “We needed a better understanding of the scope of the identified safety issue before we could begin to explain the nature of the issue. It is likely to be a combination of factors, rather than one recurring cause. Once the inspections are completed, the Municipality will be able to assess the scope of the problem and identify those contributing factors.”