UPDATED (11:33 p.m. MST): ATCO is reporting that power has been restored throughout the townsite.

More than 800 Jasper residents were without electricity on the year’s longest night.

ATCO Electric technicians are still investigating the cause of a power outage that began at 7:10 p.m. Power was lost in the west end of townsite. Downtown and residents in the east end of town were unaffected. Power was restored to Cabin Creek by 9:55 p.m. but other areas, including parts of Bonhomme Street and Turret Street, were without power until approximately 11:30 p.m.

Representatives from the company told a Jasper customer a breaker was tripped at a local substation.

Air temperatures were expected to dip to -39 degrees Celsius overnight.

On December 21, cold temperatures and increased usage of electricity prompted the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) to declare a Grid Alert.

“Albertans are asked to conserve their energy usage during peak hours (4 p.m. -7 p.m.),” AESO said.

Visit ATCO’s website, download the ATCO Electricity App and follow The Jasper Local for the latest on this outage.

Bob Covey // thejasperlocal.com