Explosion at power plant causes widespread outage

An explosion and subsequent fire at the Lennox and Addington power plant led to a widespread power outage early on the morning of Saturday, Jul. 23, 2022.

Approximately 30,000 households in multiple municipalities, including Napanee, Bath, Deseronto, Tamworth, and areas of Prince Edward County were without power beginning at around 8:00 a.m. Hydro One restored power to most locations at about 5:00 p.m., with some areas continuing to experience intermittent outages for several hours.

Deputy Fire Chief Bill Hammond from Greater Napanee Emergency Services said that crews from Napanee Station One and Station Three joined Loyalist fire crews in responding to the explosion and fire at the power plant, located on Highway 33. There were no injuries reported, and the cause remains under investigation.

This is a developing story, and updates will be added as they become available.