Category: News

OTTAWA – Today, Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc., launched Enabling Net Zero; a public engagement survey designed to inform its sustainability action plan to become the first municipality-owned utility company to achieve net-zero operations by 2030 in Canada.

Hearing from customers, employees, partners, stakeholders and various interest groups within the wider Ottawa community is vital to supporting the transition to a greener economy and a smart energy future in the National Capital Region.

The public engagement survey starts today and continues until August 25, 2022, and is open to all residents until September 12, 2022 on Hydro Ottawa Holding’s new website.

Hydro Ottawa’s goal is to create an open dialogue of ideas and opinions from across the region so that together, it can build a sustainable, resilient and vibrant future for the community. As energy trends and needs evolve, Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. and its subsidiaries, Hydro Ottawa Limited, Portage Power, and Envari Energy Solutions, continue to lead the way by advancing energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy generation. This includes leveraging and implementing new technology as well as the pursuit of innovative partnerships.

Hydro Ottawa invites all who are interested in a smart energy future to join the conversation and complete the survey. Information and ideas gathered will help inform our strategic plans for a collective net zero and sustainable future.

Quick Facts

• The centrepiece of Hydro Ottawa’s 2021-2025 Strategic Direction is a commitment to achieving net-zero operations by 2030, a first for any municipally-owned utility in Canada.
• Through its renewable energy subsidiary, Portage Power, the company completed the second of two refurbishments of its hydroelectric stations in Québec in May 2021. With this station back online, Portage Power’s 128 MW generating fleet – the largest of any municipally-owned utility in Ontario – had a record year for green energy production.
• Envari, the company’s energy and utility services business, made significant progress on two critical projects: the four-year, $57.2 million cogeneration system upgrade at Ottawa’s wastewater collection and treatment plant, and the installation of EV charging infrastructure for the City of Ottawa’s first set of electric buses.
• In partnership with Zibi Canada and Kruger Products, Hydro Ottawa completed the construction and commissioning of the district energy plant which will provide zero-carbon heating and cooling to the Zibi community in downtown Ottawa and Gatineau.

Media contact:

Josée Larocque
Manager, Media and Public Affairs
Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc.
Tel: 613-738-5499 ext. 2345
[email protected]

OTTAWA – Hydro Ottawa is celebrating its 11th win as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers. This selection is in recognition of the company’s ongoing leadership and commitment to the environment and helping its customers and the nation’s capital achieve their sustainability goals.

Hydro Ottawa believes it has a fundamental responsibility to be a leading partner in a smart energy future and to help build a vibrant and sustainable capital. That belief extends to its own operations, and its impact on the environment, as well as to the communities in which its customers live and work.

This is exemplified in Hydro Ottawa’s partnership with the City of Ottawa on its electric vehicle and public transit charging infrastructure projects, as well as the City’s Energy Evolution initiative designed to advance energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy generation; its commitment to bring additional clean, renewable power to Ontario through a 40-year purchase power agreement from its two newly refurbished hydroelectric facilities in Quebec; and its collaboration with Zibi Canada and Kruger Products to introduce zero-carbon thermal district energy to the 34-acre downtown waterfront site, making the Zibi development project the region’s first zero-carbon-emission community.

At the end of 2021, Hydro Ottawa announced the company would be taking its commitment to sustainability one step further by accelerating its transition to net-zero operations by 2030; a first for any municipally-owned utility company in Canada.

Quick facts

• In December 2021, Hydro Ottawa achieved the distinguished Sustainable Electricity Company designation from Electricity Canada (formerly the Canadian Electricity Association), making Hydro Ottawa the 11th Electricity Canada utility company in Canada and the third in Ontario to successfully achieve this designation.
• In November 2021, Hydro Ottawa announced its commitment to support the City of Ottawa’s fleet of electric buses by providing safe and reliable electricity, while Envari will install and maintain the charging infrastructure at OC Transpo’s St. Laurent garage.
• Portage Power is Ontario’s largest municipally-owned producer of green power, with hydroelectric, solar and landfill gas-to-energy facilities generating enough renewable electricity to power 107,000 homes annually.
• In 2019, Hydro Ottawa moved into two new operations centres and a new main office, all designed and built to LEED Gold standards (a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement for green buildings).
• Solar energy generation at Hydro Ottawa’s new facilities offsets approximately 18 per cent of the energy demand at its East Campus and 100 per cent at its South Campus.
• Hydro Ottawa consistently diverts more than 90 per cent of its waste from landfill.
• Now offered in a virtual format, Hydro Ottawa’s education program, in partnership with Electricity Safety and Conservation and Relay Education, builds awareness and a culture of conservation and sustainability among elementary-aged children; the program has educated just over 307,000 local students since its inception.
• Hydro Ottawa is a catalyst member of EnviroCentre and Carbon613, a growing network of organizations that are setting and achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets in Ottawa.
• The City of Ottawa is looking to Envari to upgrade the systems at one of its wastewater treatment plants. Replacing the plant’s three cogeneration engines, and adding a fourth, will eliminate 1,565 tonnes of CO2 per year and reduce utility costs by $80M over 25 years.

 

Quotes

“With every decision that we make, Hydro Ottawa weighs the positive impact it must have on the environment, our community and our customers. We are dedicated to being an instrument of change that not only provides safe and reliable power to the nation’s capital, but also helps our city and its residents accelerate and achieve their own sustainability goals through bold initiatives, innovation and environmental partnerships.”

– Bryce Conrad, President and Chief Executive Officer

Media Contact

Josée Larocque
Manager, Media and Public Affairs
Hydro Ottawa
Tel: 613-738-5499 ext. 2345
[email protected]

OTTAWA – Today, the Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. Board of Directors announced the company would be taking its commitment to sustainability one step further by accelerating its transition to net-zero operations by 2030; a first for any municipally-owned utility company in Canada. The company is developing a detailed action plan to guide its journey to net-zero, and will be engaging with its customers, employees, partners and the regulator to reach this important milestone. This commitment is aligned with the company’s refreshed corporate strategy for the 2021-2025 period.

The announcement comes after Hydro Ottawa achieved the distinguished Sustainable Electricity Company designation from the Canadian Electricity Association this month. Hydro Ottawa is the 11th CEA member utility company in Canada and the third in Ontario to successfully achieve this designation.

Hydro Ottawa believes it has a responsibility to help build a vibrant and sustainable capital. That belief extends to its own operations, and its impact on the environment, as well as to the communities in which its customers live and work.

Hydro Ottawa owns and operates three primary subsidiaries: Hydro Ottawa Limited, which distributes electricity across the nation’s capital; Portage Power, which has over 128 megawatts of installed green generation capacity – enough to power 107,000 homes annually; and Envari Holding Inc., which offers large-scale sustainable energy solutions for businesses, governments and utilities.

 

Quick facts

• Portage Power has increased its renewable energy generation output by 500 per cent since 2012. It is Ontario’s largest municipally-owned producer of green power, with hydroelectric, solar and landfill gas-to-energy generation facilities producing enough renewable electricity to power 107,000 homes annually.
• Solar energy generation at Hydro Ottawa’s new facilities, built to the LEED Gold standard, offsets approximately 18 per cent of the electrical energy demand at its East Campus and 100 per cent at its South Campus.
• Hydro Ottawa diverts, on average, more than 90 per cent of its waste from landfill.
• In October 2020, Hydro Ottawa partnered with Zibi Canada and Kruger Products to introduce zero-carbon thermal district energy to the 34-acre waterfront site in downtown Ottawa and Gatineau, making the Zibi development project the region’s first zero-carbon-emission community.
• Hydro Ottawa has been certified to the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management since 2004 and in September 2020, received ISO 55001 certification for its asset management program, recognizing its commitment to meeting operational, environmental and financial goals to deliver safe, low-cost, clean, reliable power to its customers and community.
• The City of Ottawa recently announced that Envari will be responsible for the installation and maintenance of charging infrastructure, while Hydro Ottawa will provide power for OC Transpo’s fleet of electric buses.
• Hydro Ottawa is a catalyst member of EnviroCentre and Carbon613, a growing network of organizations that are setting and achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets in Ottawa.

 

Quotes

“We are in the midst of an environmental crisis, as extreme weather events here in Ottawa, across Canada and around the world are occurring with ever increasing regularity. Now is the time for clear, decisive and bold action, to take every opportunity big or small to put sustainability first. To that end, Hydro Ottawa has committed to being the first municipally-owned utility company in Canada to be net-zero by 2030.”

– Bryce Conrad, President and Chief Executive Officer

 

“Climate change is one of the most pressing problems facing our world today. Our shareholder, the City of Ottawa, has declared the environment to be a top priority by putting a plan of action in place to achieve their net-zero targets by 2050. In support of that objective, Hydro Ottawa will lead the way and continue to innovate and collaborate with key stakeholders in order to reach this important milestone.”

– Jim Durrell, Chair, Board of Directors, Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc.

 

Media contact:

Josée Larocque
Manager, Media and Public Affairs
Hydro Ottawa
Tel: 613-738-5499 ext. 2345
[email protected]