Posts Tagged ‘Toronto Hydro Corporation’
Save The Toronto Bluffs Granted Intervenor Status at Ontario Energy Board Hearing into TO Hydro's Streetlight Asset Sale
I have been granted Intervenor status on behalf of Save the Toronto Bluffs at the Ontario Energy Board hearing into Toronto Hydro Energy Services (a 100% owned subsidary of Toronto Hydro Corporation) proposed sale of it’s streetlight assets to a numbered shell company owned 100% by Toronto Hydro Electric System (which is 100% owned by Toronto Hydro Corporation) for $60 Million dollars. Basically Toronto Hydro Corporation is looking to sell itself something it already owns, and with that ‘sale’ $60 million dollars will move from Toronto Hydro Electric System, the regulated entity that distributes power in the City of Toronto to it’s unregulated, financial loser arm, Toronto Hydro Energy Services.
Toronto Hydro Electric System employees and trucks already service these lines, but Toronto Hydro Corporation claims safety enhancements can be made by selling something they already own to themselves and continuing to use assets they already own and employees they already employ to continue to service these poles, they too already own.
You may remember these poles from those horrible incidences over the winter where family pets and small children were being electrocuted, and Toronto Hydro Energy Services failed to respond for months, until publicly humiliated into doing so.
Originally the poles were owned by the City of Toronto, for decades in fact, until David Soknacki as David Miller’s first budget chief ran out of money needed to balance the budget and decided to sell the front lawn of the Ontario Science Centre to the Provincial Government and sell the City’s streetlights to Toronto Hydro Energy Services for the remaining $60 million he needed. The best part was then too, even though it was already Toronto Hydro trucks servicing this infrastructure enhanced safety was cited as a benefit. That was before the tragic death of family pets, and the electrocution of small children brought on by poor maintenance, a lack of understanding of the infrastructure and a denial of the problem.
Moving these poles into Toronto Hydro Electric Services and licensing them as part of the distribution system for Toronto (which they are not) would move the liability directly onto the shoulders of rate payers, in addition to allowing the City to cease paying for the upkeep of these poles or their energy usage and instead passing those costs directly onto residential, commercial and industrial customers of Toronto Hydro.
I am looking forward to using the opportunity to be an Intervenor at these hearings to seek evidence from Toronto Hydro Energy Services, Toronto Hydro Electric System, the shell company and Toronto Hydro Corporation to determine the merit behind the enhanced safety claims, the merit of an internal wealth transfer, and the impacts this could have on customer’s bills.
Members of Save the Toronto Bluffs will be seeking to represent the interests of all Torontonian ratepayers at the Ontario Energy Board hearing and will be fighting to keep unnecessary increases to your bills from happening in addition to forcing transparency on a corporation in desperate need of an airing out.
No Comments »David O’Brien Retires as President and CEO of Toronto Hydro Corporation, Is the New Boss the Same as the Old Boss?
I have to say when I heard about the retirement of David O’Brien I was hopeful that Toronto Hydro might have the opportunity to bring in someone new, hopefully someone who has operated in the real world and has actually worked for a real company that is required to do things like respect shareholders, generate revenue, make responsible business decisions, not kill the pets of their customers, or electrocute their children through a mix of ignorance and negligence. That being said, someone looking at Toronto Hydro, and especially Toronto Hydro Energy Services from the real world probably would head for the hills before accepting the golden handcuffs that would bring them into the fold of this loonie bin.
David O’Brien personally ignored our calls for an end to Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal process. His refusal to act or even respond to alligations is in my mind tantamount to his support of Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal activity. Under his term, residents of Toronto saw two major privacy breaches in three months, both related to the internet. It saw a total disregard for safety as it relates to the maintenance of infrastructure that has the potential to have lethal consequences if not properly maintained. We watched as executives at Toronto Hydro told what can only be described as bald faced lies, as the legal counsel for Toronto Hydro made themselves aware of Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal activity and did nothing to either deny the claims being made or to direct their client to not proceed with an illegal application.
Hopefully Anthony Haines, current President of Toronto Hydro Electric System, the company within Toronto Hydro that actually makes money and generates profit, does a reasonable job of carrying out its obligations in a safe manner will look at his poor cousins in Toronto Hydro Energy Services and see them for the finanacial parasite they are, and reign in Chris Tyrrell, Jack Simpson and Joyce McLean. It’s my hope he will tell each of these ethically challenged individuals that illegality is no longer acceptable, that they cannot lie when it suits them, cut corners as it pleases or violate laws that would prevent them if followed.
Let’s hope the new boss is nothing like the old boss, and is wise enough to realize that this proposal to build a wind factory where it is well documented their isn’t sufficient wind is a fool’s paradise that isn’t worthy of the 700 million dollars of public money that will be wasted damaging the environment, trampling democracy and wasting the hard earned money of Toronto taxpayers. Haines has the opportunity to reach out, and right the wrongs of his predecessor and the pathetic so-called sister company Toronto Hydro Energy Services which represents just three percent of total revenue for Toronto Hydro and is the source of most of it’s headaches. In the private sector a Chief Executive with deal with a problem like that swiftly considering Toronto Hydro Energy Services total revenue represents a rounding error on the balance sheet. Here’s to hoping Haines will too.
If Haines decides he should be the same as the old boss, I promise him this, we’ll be there to hold you to account, to challenge the inappropriate actions carried out by your organization and will defend our rights, our environment, and our tax dollars as long and with as much intensity as is required to come out on top. On the flip side, should Haines decide to cancel Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal application, and end their attempts to put a wind factory in what may be the worst site selection on the lake (who builds in front of a cliff when you need wind?) residents would celebrate the move, and thank him for the wise business sense to see that a company whose annual income isn’t even enough to meet it’s own payroll should not be spending $700 million dollars of a sister companies money on a really bad idea that will not pay off in the end.
No Comments »Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources Has a ‘Gartner Lee / AECOM’ Moment and Gets Caught
Folks may remember when one of the resident asses working on the Toronto Hydro proposal for an offshore wind test platform at Gartner Lee / AECOM decided to use the name Anne Mometer to insult me on my blog, and was subsequently outed, giving me the opportunity to go after ‘her’ employer and their law breaking client – Toronto Hydro Energy Services. Actually – both Gartner Lee and Toronto Hydro Energy Services violated the law literally hundreds of times together (To Gartner Lee / AECOM and Toronto Hydro again – as this is totally provable, I would welcome any response your Counsel has in this regard – but because we all know you did violate law hundreds of times together, it isn’t actionable as it is simply a statement of provable fact.)
It seems there are still eco-bullies in high places who know so little about the internet they don’t get why their highly ignorant and insensitive comments get them in hot water. Natural Resources is probably the most inappropriate place for someone to be belittling an individuals moving and painful experience. As such, I hope the comment results in an individual finding themselves removed from the public service.
First read this post about Barbara Ashbee having to abandon her home due to the health effects of a poorly planned wind project, and then view the totally insensitive comment from some Ottawa based hack who could choose to help residents, but instead decides to mock them.
Below is the comment the cowardly individual from Natural Resources left.
Please let me know when the property comes up for sale. Since everyone claims that property values will decrese, I will expect a bargain basement price!
Not only does this person not know how to spell but I checked the IP address of the originator of this comment and lo and behold:
OrgName: Natural Resources Canada
OrgID: NRC-41
Address: 580 Booth Street
City: Ottawa
StateProv: ON
PostalCode: K1A-0E4
Country: CA
Author : (IP: 132.156.196.29 , 132.156.196.29) E-mail :
URL :
Whois :
http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=132.156.196.29
Here is the Wind Concerns Ontario post on this incident.
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