Environmental, Social & Governance

We’re making sure that we understand the impact electric vehicles and other types of fuel switching (e.g. heat pumps) will have on our grid and surveying customers to understand the pace at which they plan to make these transitions. We are investing now in upgrades to our distribution system so that it is ready to reliably support the incremental impact of electric vehicle (EV) charging and other technology adoptions.

Want to know more about the technical and practical aspects of installing solar panels and Net Metering, or how long it will take to break even on your clean electricity investment?  We’re happy to help - follow this link to learn more:  https://www.londonhydro.com/accounts-services/generation

London Hydro has supported the City of London's MyHeat program by working with customers interested in installing solar generation on the electricity distribution system. 

West 5 Net Zero Energy Community - London Hydro worked with multiple stakeholders and the West 5 net-zero energy community to develop and deploy one of Canada’s first large-scale, fully integrated, net-zero utility scale smart micro-grid.  This net zero energy community will include solar power generation, battery storage, electric vehicle infrastructure and smart data management and communications. This smart grid project creates a smarter and greener community, and reduces GHG emissions. 

London Hydro has been a long-time supporter of the electrification of transportation.  In 2017, London Hydro partnered with Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN), the City of London and FLO-AddEnergie Technologies to install three Level 2 dual EV charging stations in the downtown core of London.  Through this partnership, London became one of five major Canadian cities to deploy street-side EV charging through NRCAN's Curbside EV Charging Pilot Program.

London Hydro is increasingly transitioning the fuel source of its own operations to electricity. We have reduced our annual emissions through the addition of 23 hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles to our operations fleet.

We have also deployed an Idle Management System which reduces emissions and fuel consumption by turning off vehicles after a pre-set idle duration.

London Hydro monitors and strives to reduce our consumption of water, electricity, fuel and natural gas.  We also monitor and strive to reduce our creation of waste and wastewater.

London Hydro aims to reduce paper usage by encouraging electronic billing and customer communications.  In 2015, London Hydro became the first utility in North America to offer Aeroplan® Rewards to customers who sign up for paperless billing. 

We are proud of the fact that 50% of London Hydro customers have “gone Paperless”.  Why not add your name to the list and go paperless today?  

Many types of interactions, such as moving, making payments or payment arrangement, submitting a water meter reading, and switching price plans can be completed in our self-service online platform MyLondonHydro. 

Trickl is London Hydro’s self-service “mobile app” which allows customers to access real-time account and billing information from their smartphone.  Access to real-time data helps customers manage their energy usage. 

London Hydro’s Commerce is an online, self-service software application that helps businesses easily monitor and manage their energy profile, usage and demand.  Businesses can forecast “what-if” usage scenarios, and estimate costs long before their bill is due.  Commerce includes enhanced Global Adjustment features and electronic Class A and Class B status applications, helping businesses be optimally positioned to efficiently manage their electricity usage and costs.

London Hydro is widely regarded as a leader in the field of digital utilities generally and, more specifically, we are seen as leaders in Green Button technology. Through Green Button, customers now have the tools and applications that allow them easy and immediate access to their usage data so that they can better understand and manage their energy consumption.

London Hydro’s call centre agents receive extensive training so that they are able to respond to a wide range of account/billing and operational inquiries. 

In 2022, London Hydro introduced Live Chat as a new communication tool through which customers can securely and conveniently discuss billing inquiries or our services and assistance programs, or receive website navigation support.  Live Chat is accessible thorough your MyLondonHydro account. 

On the rare occasion that your power is out, London Hydro’s Outage Map is available 24/7/365.  Also, customers can enroll to receive outage notifications and will be notified by phone, email or text as soon as we are aware of an outage affecting your address and when an estimated restoration time becomes available.

Our technical team members provide support on power quality and reliability-related matters to our commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

London Hydro is very proud of the fact that we consistently receive high ratings from our residential and commercial customers when we conduct customer satisfaction surveys. 

In recent years we have seen an increased prevalence of severe weather across all four seasons. We expect that the effects of climate change will continue to result in more frequent and more intense weather events that could cause potentially lengthy power interruptions through their effect on the distribution system.  In May 2022, a derecho storm hit London along with much of southern Ontario and Quebec. We are proud that London Hydro was able to restore power to 90% of affected customers within 8 hours. We will continue to invest in smart technology in order to reduce outage frequency and duration, and in core improvements to distribution system, so that we are in the best position possible to respond to weather events and restore power safely and swiftly. 

London Hydro recognizes that we contribute to the success and growth of the City of London.  We offer structured support to the developer community in their efforts to create housing solutions for Londoners, including through our online Builder’s Portal which offers a streamlined approach to keeping track of project permits and monitoring  progress. 

We also assist the City of London and London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) in their conversations with potential businesses and industries looking to grow their operations, in the hopes that they realize that London is the best choice.

Through focused investment in the downtown core, London Hydro’s grid in this area has been upgraded so that it is ready to support the rejuvenation of downtown London and meet the dynamic needs of our growing city.

In 2019, an exciting opportunity arose for the City of London to move forward with rapid transit. We are working closely with the City and other utility partners and stakeholders on this important initiative for the London community, and we are investing in the changes that need to be made in the distribution system to allow the various phases of the project to move forward. The benefits of this major investment in rapid transit in our City are clear, and London Hydro is proud to be contributing to its success.

Image

Every year, our team of dedicated employees volunteer their time, energy, skills and creativity to our Santa Claus Parade float. Participating in this wonderful annual event, where the community and families comes together, is a special opportunity for us to celebrate the season with the community we serve. London Hydro also provides a truck to collect donations along the parade route for the London Food Bank.

Giving back to our community is a core value at London Hydro. In 2022, London Hydro employees raised over $30,000 and donated the funds to charities and worthwhile programs in our community.