Thousands lose power in Halifax as heat wave grips Nova Scotia

More than 44,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were left without electricity on Friday evening after a major outage affected several communities across the Halifax area during hot and humid weather.

According to Nova Scotia Power's outage map, electricity was lost at around 8 p.m., impacting Spryfield, Armdale, Purcells Cove, Sambro, Prospect, Terence Bay, Hatchet Lake, Beechville, Clayton Park and parts of Bedford.

The utility said it expected power to be restored by midnight while crews investigated the cause of the disruption.

"Our crews are investigating the cause of the outage affecting customers in Halifax and will restore power as soon as possible. We’re very sorry for the disruption to your Friday evening," Nova Scotia Power said in a Facebook post, as quoted by CBC News.

In a statement to CBC News, the utility said the outage originated at its Lakeside substation after "a failed piece of equipment."

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency District Chief Robert Hebb confirmed there had been a fire at the substation.

"One of their components let go and caught fire, so that's led to the power outage," Hebb told CBC News.

The outage came as Nova Scotia experienced high temperatures and humidity, increasing demand on the electricity network.