TORONTO, March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Hydro One Networks
Inc. ("Hydro One"), Ontario's
largest electricity transmission and distribution company has
submitted its 2020-2022 Transmission Rate Application to the
Ontario Energy Board ("OEB"). If approved, the $5 billion, three-year investment plan would help
keep the system safe and reliable and would increase rates for the
typical household by 77 cents (0.6
per cent) on their monthly bill in 2020.
"We know that every dollar we invest comes at a cost to our
customers and the people of Ontario. This plan will keep the public safe
and decrease the number of power outages," said Paul Dobson, Acting President and CEO, Hydro
One. "We need to invest to replace, repair and upgrade equipment in
almost every community across the province. At the same time, we
are driving efficiencies to cut costs and focusing on only the most
essential investments to keep the system safe, the power on and
costs as low as possible. We are doing our part to take costs out
of the system and have reduced our operating costs by 4 per cent
since becoming a publicly-traded company in 2015."
Much of Hydro One's transmission system was built in the 1950s
and is in need of investment:
- One-in-four transformers are at their expected service
life.
- More than 15 per cent of steel towers and 1,400 km of
transmission lines are nearly 100 years old.
A safe and reliable high-voltage transmission system is
essential to supporting strong and successful communities. An
outage on the transmission system can leave tens of thousands of
customers without power as well as cost large manufacturers
millions of dollars in lost productivity and materials.
"Modest investments in the system today will help protect the
public, ensure reliability and offset far more costly work in the
future," said Dobson. "Newer technologies and designs also cost
less to maintain and are more reliable and resilient to
weather."
A copy of the investment plan is available at
www.hydroone.com/systeminvestments.
About Hydro One:
Hydro One Inc. is a fully owned
subsidiary of Hydro One Limited, Ontario's largest electricity transmission and
distribution provider with almost 1.4 million valued customers,
over C$25.7 billion in assets and
2018 annual revenues of over C$6.2
billion. Our team of approximately 8,600 skilled and
dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable
electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and
successful communities. In 2018, Hydro One invested almost
$1.6 billion in its 30,000 circuit km
of high-voltage transmission and 123,000 circuit km of primary
distribution networks and injected approximately $1.3 billion into the economy by buying goods and
services in Ontario. We are
committed to the communities where we live and work through
community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. We
are one of only six utility companies in Canada to achieve the Sustainable Electricity
Company designation from the Canadian Electricity Association.
Through Hydro One Telecom Inc.'s extensive fibre optic network, we
also provide advanced broadband telecommunications services on a
wholesale basis. Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on
the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: H).
Forward-Looking Statements and Information
This press
release and the application to which it refers may contain
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
securities laws. Words such as "expect", "anticipate", "intend",
"attempt", "may", "plan", "will", "can", "believe", "seek",
"estimate", and variations of such words and similar expressions
are intended to identify such forward-looking information. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance or actions and
involve assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are difficult
to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ
materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such
forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause
actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results
expressed, implied or forecasted by such forward-looking
information, including some of the assumptions used in making such
statements, are discussed more fully in Hydro One's filings with
the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Hydro One does not intend, and it disclaims any
obligation, to update any forward-looking information, except as
required by law.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hydro-one-submits-5-billion-investment-plan-to-the-ontario-energy-board-to-keep-ontarios-transmission-system-safe-and-reliable-300816774.html
SOURCE Hydro One Limited