Latest news with #HydroOttawa
Ottawa Citizen
13-07-2025
- Climate
- Ottawa Citizen
Power outages in Ottawa affect more than 30,000 customers
Around 30,485 customers were affected by multiple power outages across Ottawa on Sunday afternoon. Article content According to the outage map on the Hydro Ottawa website, around 22,389 customers were affected by power outages in an area spanning from Bayshore all the way to Westboro and Carlington. Article content Article content More than 4,300 customers in an area stretching from Centrepointe to the edges of Barrhaven West were also affected by power outages. Article content Article content Hundreds of customers in Hintonburg, Billings Bridge and Vanier were affected as well. Article content Article content The causes of the outages were still under investigation as of 2:34 p.m., according to the outage map. Article content Hydro Ottawa said in a social media post at 2:10 p.m. that it was aware of the outages and crews were trying to restore power to the affected areas. Article content At 2:27 p.m., the company said power was restored to customers impacted by the outages in the Carling, Richmond and Nepean wards. The cause of the outage was 'a loss of power from the provincial grid.' Article content The outages came as Ottawans tried to stay cool in the middle of a heat wave. Daytime temperatures peaked at 31 C on Sunday and are expected to dip to 20 C at night. A thunderstorm warning was also issued by Environment Canada earlier in the day. Article content
CTV News
13-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
West end outage caused by loss of power from provincial grid: Hydro Ottawa
Power lines are seen against cloudy skies near Murvale, Ont., northwest of Kingston, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Hydro Ottawa says thousands of people in Ottawa's west end briefly lost power Sunday afternoon. In a post on X at 2:10 p.m., the utility said it was investigating an outage affecting 30,485 customers. About 20 minutes later, Hydro Ottawa said it had restored the electricity. The outage was caused by a loss of power from the provincial grid, the utility says. The utility's outage map showed showed it covering a large area near Highway 417 including the neighbourhoods of Westboro, Highland Park, Carlingwood, Lincoln Heights, Britannia and Bayshore. A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect in Ottawa. Environment Canada warns outages are 'likely' as storms move across the region on Sunday afternoon.
CBC
26-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ottawa's electricity use projected to surge, forcing grid expansion
Demand for electricity in Ottawa is projected to soar over the next two decades, especially during the winter, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new infrastructure is being planned to ensure power continues to get to the city's grid. The upgrades and expansions could be paid for, at least in part, by a proposed $6.08 increase to residential users' monthly Hydro Ottawa bills as of January 2026. By 2043, Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) estimates electricity use in winter will jump a whopping 166 per cent in Ottawa. Summer demand is also expected to grow, but at a slower rate of 33 per cent. The IESO, which manages Ontario's electricity needs, has spent the past couple of years working with the many players in the industry to update its forecasts for the power Ottawa will need. It released a roadmap this month for how to meet that demand. The main reason why winter electricity use might someday eclipse the demand of summer air conditioning comes down to how buildings are heated, said Kennan Ip, the IESO's senior manager of transmission integration for eastern and northern Ontario. Gas furnaces are expected to be swapped out for electric heat pumps, he explained. The economy and population are also expected to grow, and the City of Ottawa has stated goals to transition away from fossil fuels. The municipality is buying e-buses and expanding its electric light rail system. Residents are plugging in electric vehicles. Hydro Ottawa reports ministry data showing about 17,000 electric vehicles are already registered in the city. As generative artificial intelligence takes off, companies that build power-hungry data centres are also seeking to tie into the grid, said Hydro Ottawa Group CEO Bryce Conrad. Those warehouses filled with IT servers require significant power for cooling. Transmission lines, substations needed The IESO recommends more stations in Ottawa and two more transmission lines in the west of the city in the next few years alone — building blocks to keep up with the anticipated surge in demand. The system is reliable right now, but nimble planning and care is needed to make sure it stays that way, said Ip. "The key is you don't want to overbuild because it will certainly be a negative impact to to our ratepayers," he said. "But at the same time, you don't want to underbuild because you'll end up being that barrier to to growth." Even though the downtown will see great demand for power, it's extremely costly to add underground cables, he explained. Instead, the recommendation is to build out capacity in Kanata, Stittsville and Nepean to shift the load. Hydro Ottawa Group is responsible for its own substations, poles and lines that take high-voltage power from transmission lines and convert it to lower voltage that can be distributed to homes and businesses. The municipally owned utility sees spending a record $1.2 billion over the next five years — double what it's been spending on capital infrastructure. Where it usually builds a substation every five years, it will build one each year, Conrad said. "So a massive, massive upswing in the amount of work that needs to be done, and that's just to keep pace with what we know is coming," said Conrad. In his annual presentation to city council on Wednesday, Conrad underscored the global trend toward electrification and away from fossil fuels. "Make no mistake: This shift is seismic," he told them. Bills could rise $6 per month To help pay for all of this infrastructure, electricity distributors in other cities have applied to increase their rates, and Ottawa is doing the same, Conrad said. The city has an application before the Ontario Energy Board that proposes raising the distribution part of the bill for which Hydro Ottawa is responsible by 17.6 per cent come Jan. 1, 2026, or $6.08 per month on average. That would be followed by an increase of $3.79 in 2027, $3.31 in 2028, $2.76 in 2029 and $2.78 in 2030, according to documents submitted to the board. The cost of generating and transmitting the power makes up the bulk of a hydro bill, while less than a quarter goes to Hydro Ottawa for distributing that electricity. But Conrad says ratepayers can't foot the entire bill for all of this infrastructure. He called on the federal government to contribute, because he sees building capacity on the electricity grid as a nation-building project. "We've got to do in the next 20 years what it's taken us 100 years to do," he said.
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Hydro Ottawa plans ‘seismic shift' in spending to improve electricity infrastructure
Hydro Ottawa needs to raise distribution rates by $3.79 to $6.08 a month for five years to fund a 'seismic shift' in capital spending to boost the hydro grid, according to the utility's CEO. The municipal utility has filed an application to the Ontario Energy Board to increase distribution rates between 2026 and 2030, to fund hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to the hydro infrastructure. 'We're talking about a seismic shift in the amount of capital that we're doing,' Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad told Council Wednesday morning. 'It's 250 per cent of what we have done in the previous plan to support the grid, to support the growth.' Under the proposal, Hydro Ottawa wants to increase distribution rates $6.08 a month in 2026, and then between $2.72 and $3.79 a month between 2027 and 2030. Conrad said the 'necessary investments' required to boost the electricity infrastructure in Ottawa 'will not be cheap.' 'The scale and scope of the electricity infrastructure investment is simply too large to be born exclusively by local ratepayers,' Conrad said. 'Additional support from upper levels of government is required to ensure this last mile distribution is available.' Conrad notes Toronto Hydro and other utilities are also proposing to increase distribution rates to fund infrastructure upgrades and expansion. Hydro Ottawa will spend $1.195 billion over five years to improve hydro infrastructure, with 55 per cent of the funding going towards 'growth and electrification' to power the growing city and 'service customers' changing needs for electricity, including solutions such as new technologies.' The utility said its investment plan includes enabling energy transition and reducing emissions, responding to rising costs and hiring more workers. Some councillors told Hydro Ottawa officials they have received calls about hydro outages in their ward and wondered if the grid is strong enough to support the growing city. Conrad said tree contact is the number one cause of power outages in Ottawa. 'Any outage is one too many,' Conrad said, adding Hydro Ottawa saw improvements in grid reliability last year compared to 2023. 'If I'm being very honest with you, we've had a number of tree contacts and things of that nature which cause periodic momentary outages. We also tend to have more than our fair share of bad drivers in this town that like to hit poles and construction crews with excavators that like to hit overhead wires.' Hydro Ottawa has 364,334 residential and business customers in Ottawa and serves 1,116 sq. km of area. Residents are invited to provide feedback to the Ontario Energy Board. Hydro Ottawa's monthly distribution rate increased $4.92 a month for residential customers in 2024 and $0.16 per month this year.
Cision Canada
25-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Hydro Ottawa presents 2024 Annual Report to City Council Français
OTTAWA, ON, June 25, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. ('Hydro Ottawa') presented its 2024 Annual Report, highlighting successes in maintaining a safe and reliable supply of electricity, enabling sustainable energy solutions for customers and achieving milestones across its diverse lines of business. Board Chair, Bernie Ashe, and President and Chief Executive Officer, Bryce Conrad, presented the company's 2024 financial results during the Annual General Meeting before Ottawa City Council. They also provided an update on local clean energy project partnerships, the recently completed financial restructuring of the company and plans for investing in distribution system infrastructure over the coming years to support the city's growth and increased electrification. As part of the presentation, the company introduced its refreshed brand identity—Hydro Ottawa Group. This change reflects a more comprehensive identity focused on empowering customers through the delivery of sustainable energy solutions and reflects the promise to enable a smarter energy future by leading innovation, fostering community and embracing sustainability. Quick Facts In accordance with the City Council-approved dividend policy, Hydro Ottawa's dividend payment to the City will be $22.3 million this year, which will be used by the City to fund municipal programs and services. In 2024, Hydro Ottawa maintained best-in-class reliability and achieved its best-ever outage frequency result. On average, customers had power 99.98 per cent of the time. As part of its ongoing focus on improving emergency preparedness and response, the company introduced two-way outage communications, enabling customers to report outages and register for outage alerts via text message. Hydro Ottawa undertook a corporate restructuring to better position the company for long-term financial success. This provided an immediate benefit to its credit rating, creating a stronger posture for executing on major investment plans and increasing capacity for growth and diversification. Significant milestones were achieved in support of the City of Ottawa's Zero Emission Bus project, including completion of the first tranche of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure installation and the initiation of a new electrical substation project providing dedicated capacity for bus charging. Planning and design advanced for two major local sustainability partnerships: the energy-efficient central utility plant for The Ottawa Hospital's new Civic campus and a wastewater heat recovery pilot project for a residential development in downtown Ottawa. Portage Power, the company's renewable energy subsidiary, produced a record-high volume of clean electricity across its 36 stations as a result of hydroelectric plant upgrades and water flow optimization. Envari, the company's energy solutions provider, continued to support key partners like the Ottawa International Airport Authority, Ottawa Community Housing and Renfrew County school boards in reducing their energy consumption and carbon emissions through sustainable energy initiatives. Hiboo networks, the company's telecommunications subsidiary, completed its first full year of operations. It continued to focus on acquiring customers, expanding its network and building internal capacity for long-term value creation. It was also a founding partner in CommuniFi, a pilot project offering free Wi-Fi for Ottawa Community Housing tenants. As part of its commitment to achieving net-zero operations, Hydro Ottawa expanded its corporate EV fleet, installed additional EV chargers at its work centres and broke ground on the Piperville Municipal Transformer Station, its first substation being designed and constructed using low-carbon techniques. As noted in the Annual Report, there was a 24 per cent year-over-year reduction in corporate emissions within the company's control (known as Scope 1 emissions) relative to the prior reporting year. Hydro Ottawa is dedicated to making the communities it serves better places to live, work and play. In 2024, its employee-driven charitable campaign raised approximately $142,000 for United Way East Ontario and $151,000 for The Royal Ottawa Prompt Care Clinic. The company also contributed $76,000 through its Community Investment Program to sponsor local organizations seeking to build stronger and healthier communities and support vulnerable groups. Quotes "2024 marked a year of strong financial and operational performance across our core business lines. With a new organizational structure in place, Hydro Ottawa is well-positioned to build on this momentum as we prepare to embark on the largest grid investment program in our history. We look forward to elevating our engagement and partnerships with customers and stakeholders as we help deliver the energy transition and lead the way to a smarter energy future." - Bernie Ashe, Chair, Board of Directors "Everywhere you look in the nation's capital, Hydro Ottawa is at the forefront of transforming how we use and think about energy—whether it's meeting the demand for more clean electricity or deploying customized solutions for high-rises, hospitals, homeowners and everyone in between. We will remain relentless in our quest to be the trusted energy advisor and partner for our customers, and to unlock new value for our community through sustainability and innovation." - Bryce Conrad, President and Chief Executive Officer About Hydro Ottawa Group Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. [operating under the brand 'Hydro Ottawa Group'] is a private company 100 per cent owned by the City of Ottawa and whose strategic business lines include electricity distribution, renewable energy generation, energy solutions, telecommunications and utility services. As a future-powered energy provider and partner in key green energy projects, the Hydro Ottawa Group is committed to innovation, community and sustainability. It owns and operates four primary subsidiary companies that drive its vision for a dynamic energy future: Hydro Ottawa Limited – a local distribution company that delivers electricity to approximately 372,000 customers in Ottawa and Casselman; Portage Power – the largest municipally-owned producer of renewable energy in the province of Ontario with 131 megawatts of installed green generation capacity (enough to power 110,000 homes); Envari – an innovative energy solutions company offering products and services designed to improve energy efficiency and drive cost savings for municipalities, industrial and business clients, governments and utilities; and hiboo networks – a high-speed fibre optic network solutions and internet services company focused on powering a strong digital future by providing secure and scalable connectivity for customers in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
