Hydro Ottawa releases 2012 Annual Report to its shareholder, the City of Ottawa

OTTAWA, June 26, 2013 /CNW/ - Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. (Hydro Ottawa) will release its 2012 Annual Report to its sole shareholder, the City of Ottawa, at today's City Council meeting. In its first year of performance under a new five-year strategic plan (2012-2016 Strategic Direction), Hydro Ottawa advanced key elements of its business strategy, including more than doubling its renewable generation capacity, while achieving strong financial results that surpassed its targets for the year.

Hydro Ottawa's 2012 net income of $31 million exceeded its strategic plan projection by $3 million.  This resulted in an annual dividend payment to the City of Ottawa of $18.6 million, exceeding the dividend target for the year by $1.8 million. This dividend was paid on April 10, 2013.

"This continues a trend of consistently positive financial performance in recent years," said Pierre Richard, Q.C., Chair of the Board of Directors. "The company is on solid financial footing, and is positioned for continued success and leadership in the electricity sector."

Retiring after nearly nine years as Chair of the Board for the utility, Richard noted the significant progress the company has made in all areas of its operations. "Hydro Ottawa has become one of the best-performing municipal utilities in the province of Ontario. It continues to be a sound and rewarding investment for the City of Ottawa," said Richard.

"The company's positive performance in 2012 reflects our continued focus on the business priorities that have driven our success to date - financial strength, customer value, organizational effectiveness, and corporate citizenship," said Bryce Conrad, Hydro Ottawa's President and Chief Executive Officer. "It is also a testament to the skill and dedication of our employees who are the major drivers of our business performance."

Key results and achievements include:

• Normalized Net Income of $31 million, representing an annual Return on Equity of 8.6%;
  
  
• Dividends of $18.6 million to the City of Ottawa, representing 60% of net income. This brings the total of dividends paid to $139.9 million, since the establishment of a dividend policy in 2004;
  
  
• Hydro Ottawa's positive financial results, effective operations, low business risk profile and cautious approach to financial management resulted in a confirmation of its "A" credit rating with a "Stable" trend once again in 2012;
  
  
• With the acquisition of three additional hydroelectric plants at Chaudière Falls, Hydro Ottawa is now the largest municipally-owned producer of green power in Ontario, and is positioned as a long-term player in that industry;
  
  
• Hydro Ottawa's distribution rates remained stable in 2012, and the company ranked in the top 15 percent in the industry in terms of lowest cost of service per customer, as reported by the Ontario Energy Board;
  
  
• Customer satisfaction of 90%, measured by a third-party survey, showed improvement over 2011, and continued to outperform the provincial average;
  
  
• Service reliability remains among the best in the industry, with uninterrupted power 99.985% of the time for an average customer, excluding outages due to a loss of supply from the provincial electricity grid. Based on 2012 performance, an average Hydro Ottawa customer would experience one outage every 11 months;
  
  
• The company invested $109.3 million in capital projects - it's largest annual investment to date - to keep its electricity distribution system safe, reliable and efficient; and
  
  
• Hydro Ottawa was named the 2012 Large Company of the Year by the Ontario Energy Association, and was a Bronze Winner for Company of the Year at the Ottawa Business Achievement Awards. The company was once again named one of the National Capital Region's Top Employers and one of Canada's Greenest Employers. In addition, Hydro Ottawa was also awarded the Customer Service Excellence Award by the Electricity Distributors Association.
  
  

Details on the financial results and business achievements of Hydro Ottawa in 2012 are documented in the corporation's Annual Report, which will be posted to the City's and Hydro Ottawa's websites later today.

About Hydro Ottawa
Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc. (Hydro Ottawa) owns and operates two subsidiary companies, Hydro Ottawa Limited and Energy Ottawa Inc.  Hydro Ottawa Limited is the third largest municipally owned electrical utility in Ontario serving more than 310,000 customers in the City of Ottawa and the Village of Casselman. Energy Ottawa Inc., Ottawa's largest producer of green power, generates renewable energy and provides commercial energy management services.

SOURCE: Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc.

Rebecca Hickey
Supervisor, Media and Public Affairs
Hydro Ottawa
613-738-5499 ext. 145
[email protected]