SaskPower expects to have power fully restored to all areas of the province by tonight or early tomorrow morning.
At last word, about 13,000 customers, mainly in east-central Saskatchewan, are still with out power.
SaskPower’s vice president of distribution, Mike Marsh, says even though power has been restored to most areas, the system is still not up to capacity.
Marsh is urging residents, especially in the Prince Albert and La Ronge areas, to take whatever steps they can to conserve energy use — such as turning off any lights or electronic devices if they aren’t needed, minimizing the use of air conditioning, and avoiding doing laundry or running dishwashers unless absolutely necessary.
SaskPower says, as it restores power and stabilizes the electrical system — especially in northern areas — there is a risk that it can become overloaded.
Power in the Prince Albert and La Ronge areas has remained steady today. However, the Crown utility says customers in Prince Albert, La Ronge, Shellbrook, Debden and Big River should still be prepared for potential rotating outages lasting 4-6 hours.
As a result, residents in those areas are advised to keep adequate supplies of food and water on hand.
Storms pounded a widespread area of the province Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — but there are no major storms being predicted in the province heading into the long weekend.
In total, more than 200,000 customers province-wide were affected by power outages over the past three days.
Areas still affected by outages include Hudson Bay, Wynyard and rural areas south of Prince Albert.
According to SaskPower, there should be fewer than 1,000 customers without power by nightfall tonight.