Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad presents the company's annual report at city council on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Hydro Ottawa says "enormous financial pressures" from severe weather and a greater reliance on electricity for heating and vehicles are forcing it to drastically scale up its capital spending.
He said Hydro Ottawa, which is wholly owned by the City of Ottawa, will have to build a new substation every year, where it once built one every five years. He said federal and provincial support is mostly going to generation and transmission infrastructure, and not to companies like Hydro Ottawa that deliver power directly to customers.
Hydro rates are set through a review process at the Ontario Energy Board. Conrad said Hydro Ottawa will soon submit its application for the period up to 2030, though he would not say precisely what he's asking for or what it could mean for customers."What is otherwise a 40-year lifespan will have to be dragged out to 45 or 50 years," he said.