Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 112: Toronto Hydro’s Ice Storm Response Was Awesome (Or Not)

On June 18, Toronto Hydro released its 2013 ice storm report. The “independent review panel’s report” — commissioned, scoped, staffed, and funded by Toronto Hydro — found that Toronto Hydro did an awesome job fixing the blackout. “Toronto Hydro performed the restoration in a manner consistent with industry norms.” Toronto Hydro’s communication performance “met or …

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Toronto Hydro Ice Storm Town Hall Coming March 6

According to a note today issued by Gloria Lindsay Luby, Toronto City Councillor for Etobicoke Centre (Ward 4), the so-called “Independent Review Panel” responsible for assessing Toronto Hydro’s response to the December 2013 ice storm will hold a town hall meeting on Thursday, March 6. The purpose of the meeting is to provide the public …

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When is a Blackout Inquiry “Independent”?

Here is an insightful analysis of the role of the Public Utilities Board in Newfoundland & Labrador in inquiring into the ongoing blackout issues in that province. The analysis addresses the same concerns I presented in Part 103 of the Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report where I concluded that Toronto Hydro’s self-commissioned, self-selected, and self-funded …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 104: Toronto Hydro Snows City Council

If Toronto Hydro officials thought for one minute that they might be called to testify under oath before a public inquiry where there would be cross-examination by experienced professionals — like the hearing now under way at the initiative of the Public Utilities Board of Newfoundland & Labrador — the answers Toronto Hydro gave to …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 103: Shining a Light on the Blackout

Electricity consumers in Toronto need straight answers to three question: Why was it that all the return to service information provided by Toronto Hydro during the ice storm blackout was wildly unreliable? What can be done in the near term to improve the utility’s ability to provide consumers with accurate return to service information in …

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