Frustrating. Disappointing. Infuriating. Unacceptable.

These are just some of the words used to describe the power outages experienced in Jasper last month.

December 2009 began and ended with a series of power outages that left the town in the dark intermittently and allegedly fried some expensive electronic equipment. The outages correspond with the installation of new equipment at the Jasper power station.

For the past three days, ATCO district manager Rod Carrothers has been on the mea culpa tour throughout Jasper and we appreciate ATCO’s apology for the power outages. It is rare for a corporation to take such responsibility. There is an argument that refunds and rebates should come along with the apology, as the economic impact of the outages go beyond the average kilowatt per hour cost. They are investigating the incident, yet nothing is known about what caused the breaker to blow.

Carrothers apologized to town council on Jan. 5. Mayor Richard Ireland rightfully informed Carrothers that the outages go beyond inconvenience, as they reflect poorly on the town from a marketing and tourism standpoint. Power outages have a long term effect on tourism numbers. For so many visitors to experience such a loss of service is extremely troubling. For a destination that considers itself world class, word of mouth stories of the town’s spotty power service will have potential visitors looking elsewhere.

Power security is becoming an issue. ATCO has a great deal of redundancy in the system, but those who escaped relatively unscathed are those with private back-up generators. By coincidence the Jasper Activity Centre applied for a grant for a back-up generator at the same council meeting. Residents should always keep power outage kits in their home.

Green solutions exist as well. While ATCO continues to upgrade its plant, which uses natural gas, Jasperites should take a hard look at other potential sources such as wind and solar.

We often take our power for granted, and such experiences often alert us to dependence. Let’s hope ATCO’s record improves, and that we can all learn from the experience.