CityNews has confirmed that last night’s massive power outage in the west end of the city was caused by a Toronto Hydro pole in Etobicoke erected under a Hydro One high-voltage line.

Officials say the placement caused a short circuit, plunging more than 120,000 customers into darkness.

“Minimum clearance between the distribution line and the transmission line was encroached upon and that prompted a short circuit,” Mike Penstone, vice-president of planning for Hydro One explained.

The outage began around 9 p.m. and spanned as far north as Highway 401, south to the lakeshore and from Yonge Street west to Mississauga. Sections of North York were also without power.

The outage also caused the TTC to suspend subway service between Jane and St George stations due to signal problems.

With files from Toronto Staff