Toronto Hydro

Toronto Hydro Electric System Limited

Agency overview
Formed	1998
Preceding agency	Several municipal Utilities in the former Regional Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
Jurisdiction	Toronto
Headquarters	Toronto
Agency executive	Anthony Haines, President and CEO, Toronto Hydro Corporation
Website	torontohydro.com

The Toronto Hydro Electric System (THES) is the local distributor of electric power in the City of Toronto. In 2005 the utility served a peak load of over 5,000 MW and had nearly 600,000 residential and 70,000 commercial and industrial customers, and had around 1,600 employees. In 2005 the corporation had revenues of just over CDN$ 2,600,000,000. The former Telecom arm of the organization owns & operates city-wide high-speed fibre optic network. The data communications services (Internet access, metro LAN services, etc.) that Toronto Hydro had previously provided were only available for corporate customers.

History

In 1998 following the amalgamation of cities of Metro Toronto, Toronto Hydro merged with the utility companies of the former cities:

• Scarborough Public Utilities Commission (est. 1920)
• North York Hydro
• The Hydro-Electric Commission for the City of York
• The Hydro-Electric Commission of the City of Etobicoke
• East York Hydro-Electric Commission

Toronto Hydro Corporation is the parent company of a series of companies:

• Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited
• Toronto Hydro Telecom Inc. (sold off to Cogeco Communications Inc. in June, 2008)
• Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. (including Toronto Hydro Street Lighting)

One Zone WiFi

Starting September 6, 2006 Toronto Hydro introduced the "One Zone" WiFi network that will eventually blanket the City of Toronto with a high speed wireless network. In its initial phase, the areas between Jarvis and Spadina and Bloor and Front St will be the first zone available.

The work to add full coverage to downtown Toronto was planned to be completed by December 31, 2006, making it the largest ubiquitous municipal wireless network in Canada. [1].

It was bought by Cogeco. Their site says: "Effective August 1, 2008 Cogeco Cable Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Toronto Hydro Telecom Inc. Operating as Cogeco Data Services, the Company will continue to offer you next generation services at the forefront of technology."

Fleet

Toronto Hydro Vehicles on Queen Street West responding to a minor power outage.

Toronto Hydro uses a mix of hybrid and standard fuel vehicles in their fleet. Most vehicles for the various municipal utilities have been retired or replaced with the current fleet.

• Freightliner LLC Business Class M2 series service vehicles/repair trucks
• Freightliner LLC Cargo series
• Sterling Trucks Acterra repair trucks
• Honda Civic cars
• light duty trucks
• medium duty trucks
• Chevrolet Silverado pickups
• Chevrolet Uplander SUVs
• Chevrolet/GMC Astro vans
• Dodge RAM vans
• Dodge Caravan

The fleet sports a green livery, replacing the previous yellow livery used prior to 1998.

Community Involvement & Awards

In October 2008, Toronto Hydro was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, Toronto Hydro was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.

See also

• Hydro One
• Hydroelectricity
• Alternative energy
• Utility company

External links

• Toronto Hydro website
• Ontario's leading tenant paralegal with 28 years experience
• Membership Information
• FMTA Facebook page