Lights out in downtown Whitby amid major power outage, up to 5,000 without power

Electrical crews are racing against the setting sun to get the lights back on in downtown Whitby before nightfall.

Lights went out and AC units switched off around 4:30 p.m. July 5. Power is out in the downtown core from Lynde Creek at Hwy 401 in the west almost all the way across town to Thickson Rd in the east.

The outage extends north from Hwy 401 up to Bonacord Ave on the western side and Manning Rd on the eastern side.

This wide area covers most of Whitby’s downtown. As a result up to 5000 customers are affected, according to Elexicon Energy.

The power company doesn’t know what went wrong to cause the outage. However they’ve dispatched a crew to find out what happened and get the power back on.

Elexicon estimates power will be back on by 9 p.m., the same time the sun is expected to set over Whitby.