Power was lost to about a third of Red Deer city for about 45 minutes Wednesday evening after a problem arose with the downtown substation.
Most affected residents and businesses had their electricity cut off at about 5:40 p.m. and restored by about 6:20 p.m.
But in the meantime there was some confusion at darkened restaurants, including the southside Boston Pizza, where staff were trying to accommodate customers, including sending them to their northside outlet.
According to the City of Red Deer’s Facebook page, Electric Light and Power crews “are working hard to restore power to an outage that is affecting approximately one-third of the city.”
The main substation downtown had lost power and city officials were predicting the issue may take some time to resolve.
Staff patrolled the area affected by the outage, including Red Deer hospital all the way to Bower Place Mall to ensure all traffic signals are functioning properly.
They are continuing to investigate the cause and make repairs.
“If your power is still out please call the after-hours line at 403-348-5700 and crews will investigate,” the city’s Facebook page states. “We appreciate your patience.”