Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 122: Is Hydro One’s New Ombudsman Trustworthy?

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, …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 120: Application to Toronto Ombudsman

(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 …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 59: Payday at Tony’s Hydro

Anthony Haines, CEO of Tony’s Hydro (formerly Toronto Hydro), received another vote of confidence from the utility’s Board of Directors and City Council, the utility’s owners. Haines received a boost in his compensation in 2012, according to the utility’s Annual Information Form posted to SEDAR this morning. Although his direct pay over the year fell …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 58: Counting Down to Tony’s Payday Report

With only a few days are left, the big questions remain unanswered. Will his 2012 pay break through the psychological barrier of $852,000 set in 2011? Is the once-unimaginable million dollar compensation level within sight for Canada’s reigning champion of municipal employee compensation? With Toronto Hydro’s Annual Information Form for 2012 to be posted on SEDAR before the close …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report – Part 51: OEB Needs New Rules for Conflict of Interest

My thesis at the outset of this series, has been that Toronto Hydro — a poorly performing, high cost utility — is controlled by a CEO seeking to exploit leadership weakness at the Ontario Energy Board in an effort to move the utility toward becoming a deregulated monopoly. Developments at an Ontario Energy Association breakfast …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report – Part 49: Utility/Regulator Rotating Door

Last week, Toronto Hydro issued an internal memo to employees announcing the appointment of long-time Ontario Energy Board member Paul Sommerville as the utility’s new Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel effective September 10, 2012. This latest appointment reflects a continuation of the rotating door trend initiated by the appointment of Rosemarie Leclair who …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report ““ Part 47: Tony’s Hydro In the Red, Toronto Taxpayer Hit Coming

According to financial documents provided to Toronto city council, Tony’s Hydro (AKA Toronto Hydro) ended the first three months of 2012 with a net loss of $12.8 million compared to net income of $25.5 million for the same period in 2011. This $38.3 million reversal in year-over-year performance was primarily due to $27.8 million in …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report ““ Part 41: Executive Compensation at Tony’s Hydro (formerly Toronto Hydro)

According to data released this morning on SEDAR, Canada’s highest paid municipal employee, CEO Anthony Haines, scored a strong endorsement from the utility’s board of directors with a 12.4% increase in pay last year. What is called his “total compensation” hit $851,983 in 2011.

Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report ““ Part 40: Pep Rally and Law Suit Against OEB at Tony’s Hydro (formerly Toronto Hydro)

Rogue CEO Anthony Haines announced to some of the utility’s staff today that the utility was suing the Ontario Energy Board. If anyone has the statement of claim, please post it here. Apprentices were in a meeting today with Haines about the future. He told them he was pursuing the suit for them. During the meeting …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report ““ Part 39: Tony’s Hydro PR = Toronto Star Headlines

As part of its outages-are-assets campaign, Tony’s Hydro (formerly Toronto Hydro) is continuing its push to blame external forces for all the utility’s problems. Like it did with its recent article branding commonly used oil-filled transformer technology as dinosaurs, the Toronto Star has returned to the utility’s propaganda effort, this time on the subject of property insurance.