SaskPower expects to restore service by 7 p.m. today to customers in Prince Albert who were left in the dark due an emergency safety shutoff.

Crews tried to shut power down Thursday afternoon to perform maintenance on a transmission line, but discovered the switch wasn’t working. A SaskPower spokesperson said that forced service crews to turn power off at the sub-station so they could safely replace the switch.

That resulted in an extended power outage that effected roughly 9,500 customers, almost all in Prince Albert. Residents in East Hill, West Hill, Midtown, Normandy Park, Riverview, Crescent Heights and rural areas east of the city were all affected.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get it on sooner than that (7 p.m.), but that’s the time I was told we’re working towards,” the spokesperson said.

Power was restored to the Midtown area at around 3:38 p.m.