October 9, 2009


NEWS

Business owners who are looking for ways to manage their electricity costs in the wake of a slowing economy should take advantage of the POWER SAVINGS BLITZ program, delivered by Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (“Toronto Hydro”).  To date, Toronto Hydro has paid $7.1 million to cover the costs of lighting retrofits for more than 7,000 city businesses. Toronto Hydro estimates that the retrofits completed to date will save a total of 6.4 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The program will continue through 2009.

Designed for small businesses, churches and faith-based buildings, NGO’s, and government buildings that have individual meters and use less than 50 kilowatts of electricity, Power Savings Blitz is the first electricity conservation program in Ontario to take into account the specific needs of small businesses.

One customer who recently signed up for the Power Savings Blitz program is local flower shop owner, Livia Cao, whose establishment is located on Broadview Avenue near Danforth Avenue. Broadview Flower Market is open seven days a week; from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with multiple overhead fluorescent lights that are on from the store’s opening to closing.

The Power Savings Blitz program begins with an assessment, it’s free of charge and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. Based on the assessment, a list of possible energy-efficient upgrades is presented to the business owner. Toronto Hydro will pay the first $1,000 for energy-efficient lighting and water heating enhancements, with absolutely no financial obligation for the business owner. All work is performed by licensed electricians under contract to Toronto Hydro and the work is guaranteed for one year.

QUOTES

“We struggle with our electricity bill because it takes so much electricity to run our business,” said Ms. Cao.  “This new program will help a lot. When the assessor came in to the store, he talked to us about switching our lights to the more energy-efficient kind and gave us tips on other ways to save. We estimate that we’ll save about $40 on our electricity bill each month. It doesn’t sound like much, but it all adds up. In this economy, every little bit helps.”

FACTS

• In Toronto there are approximately 65,000 small business customers.
• In some cases, small businesses could save up to $400 a year as a result of implementing simple energy retrofits.
• Business owners who wish to participate in the program and have not been contacted yet by Toronto Hydro can call 416-599-9210 to arrange for a licensed energy assessor to visit their establishment.  More information on the program can be found at www.torontohydro.com/savingsblitz
• In addition to the Power Savings Blitz program, Toronto Hydro also developed and successfully administers the peaksaver® demand reduction program and the Business Incentive Program for business customers, as well as several conservation and demand management (CDM) programs for residential customers including: peaksaver®, Take a Load Off Toronto®, Keep Cool®, Festive Lighting Exchange and Another Bright Idea®.
• Since it began implementing CDM programs in support of the Province’s goal of creating a ‘conservation culture’ in Ontario, Toronto Hydro has reduced demand in the City of Toronto by approximately 386 megawatts and helped customers save an estimated 549,411,459 kilowatt-hours.

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Links:     www.torontohydro.com/savingsblitz (video is available in English and Cantonese)

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited is the regulated "wires" affiliate and is one of the largest municipal electric distribution utilities in Canada, delivering electricity to a broadly diverse, economically robust, residential, commercial and industrial customer base in the City of Toronto. The utility serves more than 688,000 customers.

Certain portions of this press release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information means disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or results that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action or attributable to third parties. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", "plan" and similar expressions or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although the Corporation believes that it has a reasonable basis for the forward-looking information included in the press release, such information is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual events, conditions or results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause such differences include legislative or regulatory developments; financial market conditions, general economic conditions and the ratings assigned to the corporation or its affiliates or their debt securities by rating agencies. The corporation has no obligation nor any intention to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking information included in the press release after the date thereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.

For further information:
Tanya Bruckmueller
tbruckmueller-wilson@torontohydro.com
W: (416) 542-2621
C: (416) 903-0440