EDA Recognizes High Achieving Ontario Utilities

March 29, 2017

Top-performing electricity utilities from across Ontario were honoured on March 27 at the industry’s premier Awards Gala, hosted by the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA).

“In tune with the needs of their customers and communities, Ontario’s local electricity utilities have pushed forward on many game-changing initiatives that have, and will continue to, deliver exceptional service to customers amid significant system transformation,” says EDA Chair Vinay Sharma.

Receiving the award for overall Performance Excellence, sponsored by Ontario Power Generation, was Veridian Connections. Veridian boosted its overall performance score to 97.4% according to its Service Quality Composite Index. Veridian also achieved 1.5 million hours worked without a lost-time injury, exceeded its energy savings target, and set aside $2 per customer (or $225,000 in 2016) for community sponsorships and donations.

Other award winners include the following:

• London Hydro, earning the Conservation Leadership Award (sponsored by the Independent Electricity System Operator). The utility created a turnkey solution to help confront energy poverty in the city by providing over 50,000 lighting and 700 appliance retrofits and upgrades to more than 3,000 social housing dwellings. The program is saving tenants and the London & Middlesex Housing Corporation about $450,000 per year.


• Essex Powerlines and Collus PowerStream’s joint Digital Grid 2.0 project, earning the Innovation Excellence Award. Leveraging the latest in utility software, the two companies fused different operating systems through the same universal platform, resulting in improved reliability and service. With built-in capabilities to support the adoption and integration of new technologies, this forward-thinking project is preparing the local grids and customers for the future of electricity distribution.


• Burlington Hydro, earning the newly launched Public Electrical Safety Excellence Award, sponsored by the Electrical Safety Authority, for its “Power to be Safe” program. Burlington Hydro Integrated new and existing programs teach important electrical safety lessons to people of all ages. Among the programs: Rob Ellis’ MySafeWork and the Creative Kids Contest, which engaged students in grades 4-8 to design a safety-themed ad.

• Festival Hydro, London Hydro and Whitby Hydro, earning the Customer Service Excellence Award for collaborating to enhance their online customer engagement solutions. This included launching Green Button, a standard, easy-to-use platform for customers to access and take charge of their energy usage data. By working together, these utilities reduced their costs while providing their customers with more online service options.

• Hydro Ottawa, earning the Communications Excellence award for successfully driving customer engagement and raising community awareness of the value of the utility’s services through a comprehensive social media and video content strategy. Hydro Ottawa made use of live-streaming services and drone footage to engage customers in real time.

EDA members include 70 regulated electricity distribution companies in Ontario, as well as commercial partners, affiliated companies, and associated entities. Find out more: https://secure2.eda-on.ca/imis15/EDA/Home/EDA/Default.aspx.

Photo source: EDA.