In Part 132 of this series, I reported on the two root causes of the CityPlace blackouts. Contrary to Toronto Hydro’s claims, the blackouts were not caused by aging infrastructure but by overloaded infrastructure. Toronto Hydro first neglected to plan for and provide sufficient feeder capacity to serve CityPlace and then management negligently declined to …
Folks following this series have seen it all before. The rash of CityPlace blackouts knocking out power to thousands of units in Toronto’s CityPlace district at the end of August and early September bear many similarities so many blackouts documented here before, such as Hurricane Sandy (October 2013), Thornecliff Park (March 2013), and Union Street …
Part 125 of this series featured a guest post by two retired Toronto Hydro employees, Paul Kahnert and David Grant, documenting their efforts to get action from the City’s Ombudsman, the City’s Auditor General, and the Ontario Energy Board in investigating evidence of negligence, perjury, and fraudulent claims by Toronto Hydro and its CEO Anthony …
Entrusted by Toronto Council to manage the city’s electricity distribution system, Toronto Hydro’s CEO Anthony Haines had another spectacular year in 2015 in both operations and compensation.
What follows is a guest post presented by two former Toronto Hydro employees, Paul Kahnert and David Grant. They document their unsuccessful efforts on behalf of a larger group of retirees with intimate knowledge of the utility to engage the City’s Ombudsman, the City’s Auditor General, and the Ontario Energy Board in investigating malpractice at …
I received the attached letter from the City of Toronto Interim Ombudsman in response to my posting at Part 122 of this series. The new letter, which follows a letter from Hydro One’s ombudsman (Part 123), characterizes my comments in Part 122 as containing “misleading statements”. I have comments on several details of that letter. …
Readers of this site following my reporting on interactions between Toronto Hydro and the Ontario Energy Board might recall an application I filed with Fiona Crean, Toronto’s ombudsman, in January this year. The final disposition of that application provides a disappointing indicator of what Hydro One consumers might expect, or not expect, from Ms. Crean, …
“The Premier is a financial genius,” for her moves around the sale of Hydro One says Toronto Hydro’s CEO Anthony Haines.
Energy workers, including executives, should be paid what they are worth. In general, executive compensation in Ontario’s power system is reasonable, although overall pay scales in general within regulated and government-owned utilities are excessive. While most utility CEOs in Ontario appear to me reasonably compensated, the situation at Toronto Hydro is different.
(Earlier today, I submitted the following request to Fiona Crean, Ombudsman, City of Toronto.) I am writing to request your office undertake an investigation into the April 15, 2014 Union Street Blackout that knocked out power to about one quarter of the City of Toronto. The factors causing that event and the utility’s response to …