Imagine being plunged into darkness during the coldest days of winter, with no heat, no lights, and no end in sight. That’s exactly what thousands of Montrealers faced this weekend, all because of an aging substation that’s been on Hydro-Québec’s radar for replacement since at least 2018. But here’s where it gets controversial: despite knowing the risks, the project is still years away from completion, leaving residents vulnerable to repeated outages. And this is the part most people miss—the substation, which has been in service since 1955, is just one piece of a larger puzzle of outdated infrastructure struggling to meet modern demands.
The blackout, caused by a failed breaker at the Hampstead substation, highlighted the fragility of the local grid. Pascal Poinlane, a Hydro-Québec spokesperson, admitted that fixing such issues is far more complex than addressing problems caused by snowstorms. ‘It’s not a quick fix,’ he explained, noting that generators were deployed to restore power as swiftly as possible. François Bouffard, an engineering professor at McGill University, emphasized that replacing a failed breaker can take weeks, even under ideal conditions. ‘Aging equipment is bound to fail eventually,’ he warned, especially after decades of use.
At its peak, the outage affected over 20,000 customers in Montreal and Côte Saint-Luc, with some areas remaining without power until late Monday night. The City of Montreal opened warming centers, sheltering more than 50 people, including some who stayed overnight. The crisis even had tragic consequences, with a woman found dead in her Montreal West home during the outage.
Hydro-Québec’s plan to rebuild the substation, converting it from 120 kilovolts to 315 kilovolts to meet growing demand, has faced significant delays. Originally slated for completion by 2029, the project has been pushed back, with further upgrades to power lines in Côte Saint-Luc not expected until 2031. The substation will also be renamed the Côte Saint-Luc substation to reflect its actual location.
Here’s the kicker: the area’s transformation from rural farmland to dense suburbia has complicated the upgrade process, requiring extensive consultations and driving up demand. New transmission lines will cut through residential neighborhoods, adding layers of complexity. Bouffard noted that expanding capacity in such a restricted space is a ‘big challenge’ for Hydro-Québec.
The COVID-19 pandemic further derailed the project, delaying public consultations that began in 2018. Residents like Nessim Malka, a Côte Saint-Luc father of a one-year-old, expressed frustration over Hydro-Québec’s lack of preparedness and communication. ‘We knew this was coming,’ he said, referring to the extreme cold. Poinlane acknowledged the utility’s shortcomings, particularly with its outage-tracking site, Info-pannes, which provided incorrect restoration timelines. ‘We apologize,’ he said, promising improvements.
Côte Saint-Luc Mayor David Tordjman vowed to work with Hydro-Québec to implement mitigation measures before the infrastructure is fully replaced. ‘We can’t let this happen again,’ he asserted. But the question remains: Is Hydro-Québec doing enough to future-proof its grid, or are residents being left in the cold? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
