Mile End merchants are losing thousands of dollars due to repeated preventive power cuts, sometimes considered “unreasonable”, in the Montreal district. They are calling for better communication from the City and Hydro-Québec on the expected duration of outages, in order to better manage their staff and food.
“I’ve really suffered since I got the keys to this place,” breathes Franck Nasso, who opened his shop and catering service, Franck Maison Gourmande, in November 2022, on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, near the rue Saint-Viateur.
Since his installation, he says he has experienced, between preventive cuts and work in front of his business, an “incalculable number of breakdowns”, so that he estimates that he has lost “40% of his turnover during the first six to eight weeks.
Like all merchants contacted by The dutyhe deplores a lack of visibility on the return to normal, and demands that the City set up a privileged communication channel with stakeholders in the field, rather than forcing retailers to rely on Info-pannes algorithms .
In the event of a fire, a gas leak, or a weather incident, for example, the City’s emergency services ask Hydro-Quebec to cut off the power in a given sector, explains the state-owned company.
“It’s prevention, I conceive it and I understand it. […] I’m not asking for preferential treatment”, wishes to specify the co-owner and founder of the Guillaume bakery, Guillaume Vaillant. But “I would like to have a game plan that is much clearer than waiting,” he summarizes. He does not blame Hydro-Québec, but rather the City.
Contacted by The dutythe electricity supplier says he “understands” Mr. Vaillant, “but when it is at the request of the emergency services, we have no visibility [sur la fin de la panne] neither “. Spokesperson Maxence Huard-Lefebvre also specifies that the emergency services themselves do not always know, “when it breaks out, how long it can take”.
On the other hand, he assures that in the event of a “planned interruption to maintain or replace equipment”, customers are warned several days in advance of the power cut and its duration.
For her part, the borough councilor in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Marie Plourde, declared Sunday that she was going to “find out information from Hydro-Québec to see if there are any sensitivities in the electrical network. of the sector”, and that it would communicate “promptly with the traders and residents affected”. Because at the office of the mayor, it is ensured that the power cuts are the responsibility of Hydro-Québec.
Damage as far as the eye can see
Thursday, a gas leak led to a power outage in the neighborhood at 10:30 a.m. The scheduled time to restore power was postponed several times before the blackout ended, around 5 p.m.
Because of this breakdown, Guillaume Vaillant had to throw away “4000 ciabattas”, the equivalent of nearly $6000 in losses. “It’s huge, it’s the work of twelve bakers,” he said on the phone. His croissants also went there, just two days before the festival of this pastry.
It had mobilized double its workforce to get ahead in its production in anticipation of this event. “In general, I tend to always relaunch my pasta that has been scrap. There, I won’t, because my team is tired, because it’s hard for morale too, to throw so much. »
Mr. Vaillant says he lost power four times in one week. Seven days earlier, due to a major fire that broke out at the intersection of rue Saint-Urbain and avenue Laurier, he had to throw away all his production there too.
“There are somewhat difficult choices that are beginning to present themselves to us, namely, is it worth operating a production workshop in Mile End? asks the man who has been living in the neighborhood for almost thirteen years, fearing that he will no longer be able to bear the losses.
Inaccurate forecasts also force traders to retain employees in case power returns. “Useless” expenses, according to the baker, which could be avoided with good communication.
“What we risk is losing customers, and also employees,” fears Roberto Porres, of the pizzeria Fugazzi, who says he loses thousands of dollars with each power cut. “If you’ve lost two days of work in two weeks, and then you have rent to pay, maybe you’ll go work in another neighborhood. »
The cuts do not only impact traders. Katherine McNally, head of management of Immeubles B&G – which notably owns the premises of Franck Maison Gourmande and Fugazzi – fears that some of its commercial tenants on boulevard Saint-Laurent will no longer be able to pay the rent due to losses linked to the work and to power outages.
“Obviously for us, it’s a big problem,” she said. “Communication is the basis. […] In my opinion, no one will be able to say who is responsible. I imagine that the ball will be tossed between the City and Hydro-Québec. »