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]