Hydro Ottawa For All Ottawa: PATTON
Bulldog commentator Mike Patton is sick of excuses from Hydro One:
Ottawa Hydro for All
Mike Patton is the former communications director for Mayor Larry O’Brien and a Conservative activist.
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– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
Yay to Ottawa Hydro. I use Hydro One, rather I am forced to use Hydro One, and the cost of hydro for me is significantly higher than for those fortunate enough to have their needs are met by Ottawa Hydro. Come on guys, electricity is electricity!
This is one of the things that should have been included in the set-up for the amalgamated city of Ottawa over twenty years ago. Why it fell off the table then, I’ll never understand. Successive city governments have failed to bring the far east and far west areas of the city under the mantle of Ottawa Hydro and it’s costing those residents an arm and a leg to get service from Hydro One.
The exact same service is more expensive based solely on your address even though Ottawa Hydro is owned by the city and some of their profits are returned to the city’s coffers every year. In some cases, people on one side of a street are paying through the nose while their neighbours, while still facing electric bills that are high, are paying much lower rates.
There have been bursts of activity over the years when a councillor has brought forward a suggestion that Ottawa Hydro should take over the Hydro One customers that are located within the city limits. Advances are made to Hydro One and the price tag they put on a transfer is high enough to put the kibosh on the idea. It’s well past time that the city took this issue to the province and had them intervene. It’s a question of equity for all Ottawa residents.
Voter, the city has historically received a dividend in the order of magnitude of $20 million per year from Hydro Ottawa. This year the dividend fell by a reported $3 million due to costs associated with the repair of the local grid due to the 2022 derecho.
There is only so much cash available within Hydro Ottawa. The priorities set by Hydro Ottawa management and approved by its Board of Directors appear to be in the following order:
> pay the usual operating expenses, including normal maintenance and repairs;
> pay the city an eight figure dividend to help fund the city’s out of control appetite for expenditures that are outside its areas of responsibility;
> upgrade the existing transmission lines enough to appear to be doing something about the recurring extended failures due to storm damage;
> consider, but only briefly, the requests that arise from time to time about treating all of the residents of Ottawa equally when it comes to the cost of basic electrical services.
The key take away from this list is that the payment of dividends ranks above everything except standard operating expenses.
It is all about priorities, and Hydro Ottawa’s priorities are set by its shareholder – the City of Ottawa. So, don’t point the finger of blame at Hydro Ottawa. Point it at city council.