Author: Josh McCulloch

Please note: E-Mission has grown into a region-wide initiative in partnership with the Region of Durham and Elexicon Energy. The bill credit and survey mentioned within this release are no longer available. For more program information please visit the new E-Mission website.

Oshawa, Ontario – Oshawa Power is proud to announce the launch of E-Mission; our new, full-serve electric vehicle (EV) strategy aimed at preparing our infrastructure, community, and customers for the increasing electrification of transport. E-Mission is a three-pronged initiative that strives to:

  •  Educate by offering our customers a robust collection of resources that will help them develop a complete understanding of the EV landscape;
  • Empower through providing a streamlined experience for adopters to make the transition easy and affordable; and,
  • Evolve through strategically updating our energy infrastructure to ensure our grid is up to the challenge of the electrification and proactively meets the needs of EV adopters.

To kick-off E-Mission, Oshawa Power will be gathering and analyzing hyper-local EV usage and adoption data. We’re calling on residents of Oshawa with EVs to fill out our EV survey and redeem a bill credit of $25 (the typical cost of charging your car for a month). Residents without EVs or those who live outside Oshawa can also fill out a survey for a chance to win valuable rewards.

“As an industry-leading utility, Oshawa Power takes pride in being at the forefront of new trends in the sector” said Ivano Labricciosa, President and CEO of Oshawa Power and Utilities Corp. “Our aim is to build value for our rapidly growing and evolving customer base. That’s why E-Mission’s focus is on working with customers to understand their wants and needs when it comes to electric vehicles”.

For more details about E-Mission, visit Oshawa Power’s launch event at Autofest 2018. The launch will educate participants on electric vehicles featuring a close-up look at two modern EVs provided by the EV Society, a DC Fast Charge 50 kW EV charging station provided by e-CAMION, a classic McLaughlin-Buick, and interactive activities.  There will also be many give-aways from our partners at the Canadian Automotive Museum, Parkwood National Historic Site and Save On Energy. Autofest takes place at Lakeview Park, Oshawa on August 25th and 26th.

For more information, or to fill out our EV survey visit www.oshawapower.ca/e-mission today.

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Media Contact:
Sheila Risorto
Marketing and Communications
Oshawa Power
905-723-4626 ext 5243
srisorto@opuc.on.ca

Oshawa, ON – Oshawa is experiencing a long heat wave that is increasing the electricity demand on the grid. So far this month we have seen an increase of 10% electricity demand over the same time period last year.  During times of extreme heat overall usage climbs due to air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and pools.  Conversely, our refrigerators and freezers work harder to maintain cooler temperatures.  As a result, Oshawa Power is preparing all residential and commercial customers to expect higher than normal bills.

Oshawa Power is sharing these tips to help keep your bills lower:

  • Check your account online and monitor your usage daily – don’t wait until your next bill to find out how much electricity you have used, find out now and make changes if necessary https://ecareets.opuc.on.ca/myDSM/login.asp
  • Instead of using a clothes dryer – hang your clothing outside
  • Close your blinds or curtains to keep out the sun’s heat
  • Instead of using your air conditioner, open your windows and turn on your bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans to circulate the air
  • Use a programmable thermostat, or turn the temperature up on your central air system when you are away from home
  • Turn on any ceiling fans or portable fans for air circulation
  • Use a timer on your pool pump and run in the off peak times
  • Don’t stand in front of an open fridge looking for a snack, try to keep the cool air in

Not finding relief at home from the heat?

Visit public places like a mall, recreation facilities, public libraries or Oshawa Senior Citizen branches to cool down.

Need help paying your bill?

Oshawa Power is available to assist you in managing your bill.  Please visit http://www.oshawapower.ca/need-help-paying-electricity-bill/ to learn more or reach out to Oshawa Power at 905-723-4623 to discuss your options.

Venturing outside?

Remember these heat safety tips:

  • Consider spending the hottest part of the day in public buildings that have air conditioning
  • Stay hydrated! Keep cool drinks with you while outside or in the car, if you are travelling
  • Cool down in the shade or cooling centres. If you’re at a pool, take a dip to cool off.
  • Be aware of the weather forecast, heat alerts and air quality reports
  • Don’t forget your sunscreen!
  • Check on vulnerable family members or neighbours to make sure they are ok
  • NEVER leave your children or pets in a parked car

Be prepared.

During times of extreme weather and demand additional strain is added to the grid.  As a result, the number of power outages can increase.  Oshawa Power will continue to work as quickly as possible to keep the power on for their customers.  Be prepared with an emergency items on hand including flashlights, radio, first aid, batteries, water, sunscreen, and food.  Learn more here: https://www.oshawa.ca/residents/develop-an-emergency-kit.asp

If you like to learn more about conservation or more safety tips please visit

www.oshawapower.ca/conservation

www.oshawapower.ca/safety-and-outages/

About Oshawa Power:

Part of the Oshawa Power & Utilities Corporation (OPUC) family of companies, Oshawa Power provides safe, reliable, and efficient electricity distribution services to over 58,000 customers within the City of Oshawa. Our company is an active member of the Oshawa community that continuously pursues innovative opportunities and solutions that deliver quality service, safety and low customer rates.  Oshawa Power is the recipient of a number of awards including the 2017 Electricity Distributors Association’s (EDA) Environmental Excellence Award, Hexagon SI’s Innovation Award in Infrastructure and the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association’s (IHSA) Certificate of Recognition (COR™) for three years standing.

To learn more about Oshawa Power or the OPUC family of companies please visit www.oshawapower.ca, follow us on Twitter @oshawapower or visit us on Facebook /oshawapower.

Please be aware that for the next six weeks, Oshawa Power is undertaking a Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Survey as part of our electricity distributor scorecards. The survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and will cover safety topics related to power lines, green transformer boxes and more.  To establish the required sample of participants basic demographic information will be requested however please take note that we will not be asking for any identifying information such as hydro account number, home address, and credit card or banking information.

Utility Pulse, on behalf of Oshawa Power, will be carrying out the survey via telephone. If you receive a call, please consider participating. Your responses will help us better target our public safety communications to Oshawa residents.

Results from the survey will be included in Oshawa Power’s annual scorecard, set to be released this fall.  Should you have any questions please contact our office by phone at 905-723-4623 or by email at  contact us and we will be happy to help you.  For further information on the Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Survey, please visit the Ontario Energy Board.

To see Oshawa Power’s past scorecards visit Oshawa Power’s Regulatory Affairs page and for more information on Electricity Distributor Scorecards, visit the Ontario Energy Board.

Please be advised that we are experiencing temporary IT network connectivity issues.  As a result, full functionality of our telephone system, email system, and internet access have been impaired.  We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience as our team works to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.  Restoration is expected this afternoon.

Oshawa Area Telephone Soliciting

Oshawa Power has received reports in our Customer Service department that some local customers have received fraudulent phone calls claiming to be calling from Oshawa Power.  These phone calls are recorded messages claiming there is a power surge in their neighbourhood and as a result they must come visit the home.  Oshawa Power can confirm that we are not executing any outbound phone calls to our customers at this time and this third party is misrepresenting themselves.  If you have any question please do not hesitate to contact us at 905-723-4623 or contact us .

Oshawa Power is once again proud to be sponsoring the City of Oshawa’s annual Oshawa Celebrates celebration to ring in the new year!  Read the City of Oshawa’s post below for more information.

Celebrate the arrival of 2018 at Oshawa Celebrates event

Posted on Monday December 11, 2017

Holiday Lights

The City of Oshawa invites residents to ring in the New Year at the Oshawa Celebrates 2018 event on Sunday, December 31. This fun, free, family-friendly New Year’s Eve celebration takes place from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Legends Centre (1661 Harmony Road North, just north of Taunton Road).

Oshawa Celebrates 2018, sponsored by the Oshawa PUC Networks, will feature an action packed evening of free activities, including jumping castles, crafts, Zoo to You, Jungle Cat World, live entertainment and more. Complimentary hot chocolate will be available while supplies last.

A variety of free leisure swimming and skating options will also be available. Wristbands will be required to participate in the leisure swims and skates, and will be available when the doors open at 5:45 p.m. and handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. The evening will wrap up with a family countdown to the New Year beginning at 9:00 p.m.

“Looking for a great way to welcome in 2018, then why not join us at Oshawa’s Legends Centre,” said Councillor Bob Chapman, Chair of the Community Services Committee. “It will be an amazing party with lots to do for the whole family and still leave plenty of time for Mom & Dad to get home and relax before midnight.”

For more information about Oshawa Celebrates 2018, visit www.oshawa.ca/events or call 905-436-3311.

Event parking will be available at the Legends Centre and at the adjacent Maxwell Heights Secondary School. Durham Region Transit (DRT) bus service is available to the Legends Centre. For further DRT information, visit www.durhamregiontransit.com.

 

On November 28, 2017 Oshawa Power hosted a public open house, Customer Connect Centre, at the Oshawa Civic Complex.  This open house was the first of its kind that Oshawa Power has held in over 30 years.  Employees set up information booths of topics spanning right across the company.  This was an opportunity for customers to come visit us to learn about the utility’s technology, safety procedures, growth plans, conservation initiatives, our 130 year history, renewable energy programs and customer service billing and programs.  It was also an opportunity for our employees to engage one on one with our customers and have a conversation to educate and address any questions.

With hands on opportunities to test some technology and equipment, an ongoing visual display of Oshawa Power’s history and the many literature resources and subject matter experts on hand attendees had much to look at while the kids made use of the colouring table, a free face painter and the star of the evening “Zapper” the safety dog.

It was an evening of fellowship amongst employees and with our customers that was educational and entertaining.  We would like to thank everyone who came out to visit us and we look forward to hosting more open house events in 2018.  Stay tuned for details.

Thank you

The Oshawa Power Team

On October 17 2017 Durham-based electric utilities Oshawa PUC Networks Inc., Veridian Connections and Whitby Hydro, along with Hydro One, Enbridge and Union Gas, are hosting Powering Up Durham – Save on Energy Symposium to recognize local businesses for their conservation leadership and provide a platform for participants to share industry best practices.

The morning started off by listening to innovative energy conservation success stories from local businesses who are the recipients of this year’s Powering Up Durham awards.

Powering Up Durham Save on Energy Symposium brought together over 40 local exhibitors and industry professionals from across the area, and the break-out sessions offered rapid-fire discussion and insightful workshops. This was perfect opportunity to for businesses to interact with energy experts from the local electric and gas companies. The day ended with a detailed CHP tour at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Posted on October 10, 2017 by oshawaexpress in Lifestyles

130 years ago, on September 12, 1887.

In 2017, the Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation is looking back at its history after the first power switch was flipped in the city, 130 years ago, on September 12, 1887. (Photos courtesy of the OPUC)

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

While the name may have changed over the years, the purpose has not, and for that reason, the Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation is celebrating the 130 year mark since the switch was flipped on power in the city of Oshawa.

The date was September 12, 1887, and after a group of early businessmen and entrepreneurs in E.S. Edmonson, J.L. Guy and K.L. Murton got together to form the Oshawa Electric Company, they flipped on the lights for the first time in the small city of Oshawa, bringing to life 15 light posts and power for a few nearby businesses.

“The way we look at it is, all the successor companies are part of that history,” says Ivano Labricciosa, the president and CEO of the OPUC. “Serving electricity and power to the citizens of Oshawa has been around since the 1800s.”

Serving electricity and power to the citizens of Oshawa has been around since the 1800s.Originally, that power was operated in conjunction with the local flour mill, which previously sat on Lawrence Street, just south of Mill Street. For the most part, the original power was sourced from steam and augmented by a small water power plant powered by a dam in the Oshawa Creek.

At that time, power was only available during the nighttime hours between dusk and dawn, and sometimes, if the moon was bright enough, the power would be left off.

Tragedy struck in 1892 when the flour mill was destroyed in a fire. The power plant was eventually rebuilt, and then sold to the Stark Electric Co. out of Toronto. This phased in a new era for Oshawa’a lights as the arc lights were replaced with incandescent bulbs, upping Oshawa’s electric load to 600 kilowatts and serving approximately 400 customers.

It wasn’t until 1911, that power would be made available 24 hours a day, costing residents approximately 15 cents per kilowatt hour.

In 1929, the first iteration of what would eventually become the OPUC was formed when a bylaw was passed by city council to purchase the electrical system at a cost of $310,000. The council also purchased the gas distribution network at the same time for $210,000. The year after, the first Public Utilities Commission was elected from the population of 25,000 people calling Oshawa home.

And the Oshawa power company has not always been in the business of power.

In 1959, after CN Rail stopped operating the city’s bus system, it was left to the PUC to operate after council authorized the purchase of the system, along with 21 buses, for $20,000. Also, in 1970, the OPUC began offering billing services to other entities, upping their production of paper bills to about 27,000 per month, 14,000 of which were for Oshawa, and 13,000 for other utilities.

Through the OPUC’s old computer dubbed “Hilda” they offered data services to other municipalities and even operated the city’s municipal election in 1970.

For Labricciosa and his team, branching out is nothing strange to them, having invested in both a fibre optic network in Durham, and solar energy management projects in recent years. However, it was interesting for him to see that this diversification is something the OPUC has always done.

In particular, last year saw the OPUC  took over the operation and management of Regent Park Energy Inc. in downtown Toronto, which provides the heating and cooling network to the 18 buildings that make up Regent Park, Canada’s largest social housing project.

“We always had this notion that we did services for other utilities,” Labricciosa says. “It’s got a lot of touch points to today’s issues.”