Strathearn Heights Disastrophe
A timeline
Since March 18, 2026
several buildings in the Strathearn Heights apartments have been without power from the main electrical grid
Shortly after construction on the Strathearn Heights Redevelopment Project broke ground, the state of the nearby utility infrastructure began to rear its head.The tenants in the affected buildings have been informed that they will be on generator power indefinitely, as the only information given is that the issue is underground, and a timeline on the resolution is unknown.
march 18, 2026
The power goes out in several buildings, and remains off overnight. EPCOR is called to the site, and remains there until well past midnight. No resolution is reached, and a supervisor is overheard saying to his coworker, "I've never seen anything like this in my life."Due to a lack of information and growing concern for the food in their fridges etc, some of the tenants in the affected buildings plug their appliances into the still-powered vehicle outlets.
March 19, 2026
Front office offers the use of the washroom facilities in one of Strathearn's show suites, as these buildings are boiler heated, and being without power for long enough means no hot water.Tenants begin receiving phone calls/emails well into the evening that somebody is on their way to the site to set up generators.Power remains off well past midnight.
march 20, 2026
A generator is up and running by morning. Tenants are informed that it will remain in place until the original issue is resolved, "and that looks like next week sometime".EPCOR was on-site this morning, and were again unable to identify or rectify the issue causing the outage. The plan is for them to return after the weekend, and the issue has been escalated to another one of their departments.
March 21, 2026
Generator shuts off due to not being refueled or supplied with DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid).Someone is called upon to come and top up the fuel, and it is back up and running by the end of the day.
march 23, 2026
Strathearn's site supervisor asks the tenants to unplug their appliances from the vehicle outlets, since the generator is fully powering the affected suites, and that City of Edmonton inspectors had asked them to remove all extension cords across the common areas and sidewalks.
March 25, 2026
Generator shuts off around 9:30PM; front office does not reply to emails inquiring as to why.Power is restored by morning.
April 1, 2026
Strathearn Heights states that they "have been actively coordinating with the appropriate utility providers [...etc]", and that they have "identified a possible solution that will allow us to transition away from generator power and restore service more quickly".As of yet, they have been unable to give the tenants any information on what that possible solution is, or provide a date as to when it will be implemented.
April 4, 2026
Power goes off around 2:00PM; when the employee arrives to add fuel to the generator put the pump in, the generator shuts down.Since it is a long weekend, nobody is working at the front office; several tenants email/call to try and figure out what is happening.Once again, the generator required DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid), and was also displaying a "low load" warning.Power is restored around 3:30PM.
April 6, 2026
Generator powers off around 10:00AM, and power is restored around 11:00AM.Tenants receive an email around 4:30PM from the front office:The generator that was set up initially is "actually rated for much more power usage than [all the affected buildings combined] are using", and a smaller one will be set up the following day."There is a good chance that we will require the generator for awhile longer."
April 7, 2026
The planned power outage for the generator switch-over lasts from around 11:00AM to 1:00PM.
BONUS
March 23, 2026
A water main breaks in the back alley behind the construction site; water is shut off for buildings 39 - 48.EPCOR brings in a water cart for the affected tenants. The break is repaired in approximately a day.October 10, 2025
Someone involved with the construction ripped down an electrical pole with their work vehicle; power is out for the surrounding area overnight and into the following day.
TODAY
As of today, several buildings in Strathearn Heights are still powered by a generator.There is no timeline on a resolution, and the cause of the outage is still unknown (or at least has not been communicated).Cropped emails below:
Wanna talk about it?
Live in one of the affected buildings? Live in Strathearn Heights? Live in Strathearn and have big feelings about the redevelopment project in general?
https://fb.me/g/7NBKxiZNk/V1KidY6aJoin the private FB group if you want to chat more; after this link expires in 2 days, the website will be updated with a new one.