Orangeville Hydro Limited

Orangeville Hydro was born November 19, 1916. · Businessman by the name of J.C. Anderson was advertising in the Orangeville Banner that 'he had engaged the services of an expert electrician to do expert wiring of all kinds up to the Hydro Commission's standard.'

· Town originally was supplied with electric power mainly for lighting purposes in 1885, with the plant located at the corner of Mill St. and Church St.

· C.W. Watson eventually purchased it and operated it for 3 years before merging his interests with those of James Pickering of Shelburne to form Dufferin Light and Power Company.

· Company went into liquidation and was sold to become Pine River Light and Power Company. · March 25, 1916 - Orangeville signed first contract with Ontario Hydro. The first power under that contract was delivered on June 13 of that year.

· Town purchased the Pine River Electric Light Company and formed a hydro-electric commission consisting of three (3) elected members. The sum of $13,284.30 was reportedly the cost to the town to set up Orangeville Hydro.

· Orangeville Hydro commenced business operations with 114 customers. · By 1919, Orangeville Hydro had recorded a surplus of $1500 on that year's operation. · The following year, 28 new services were installed and revenue for the year was $15,659.75. Expenses amounted to $13,401.58, leaving a balance of $2,258.17.

· Citizens were called upon to use more hydro, which would then make the rates cheaper. Revenue for the years 1922 and 1923 were $17,000 and $20,000 respectively while rates dropped from 7.2 cents per kilowatt hour to 5.6 cents per kilowatt hour. During this time, it was realized that the average bill had climbed from 95 cents in 1917 to $1.44 in 1922.

· In 1925 Dr. G. H. Campbell, a member of the hydro commission, said it was because of Orangeville Hydro that industries such as Dods Knitting Mill had located themselves in Orangeville.

· 1925 also saw Orangeville Hydro add 82 more services and a total of 500 customers overall. Plant value together with necessary supplies, were reported to be worth $48,000.

· Growth continued steadily and by 1936, Orangeville Hydro had 870 customers. · By 1937, Dr. Campbell said Hydro was the town's greatest asset and that it was running debt free. Rates were also one fifth of what they were at Orangeville Hydro's inception.

· In 1942, thunderstorms destroyed five transformers and the debentures issued to finance the Hydro installation in 1916 were retired.

· In 1950, Orangeville Hydro had increased to 1,181 users - a far cry from the original 114 customers. · 1955 saw the number of Hydro commissioner's increase from three to five, as a result of ever-increasing demand placed upon the officials.

· In 1966 Orangeville Hydro received a certificate from the Electric Utilities Safety Association for completing one year free of compensable accidents in 1965.

· Orangeville Hydro acquired a truck mounted aerial bucket in 1966. It was reported as only the third of its kind in Canada and the first one in Ontario.

· During a labour strike in May of 1985, a tornado hit the neighboring village of Grand Valley. Crews from Orangeville Hydro took the lead in rebuilding the lines in the village and restoring power.

· As the Town of Orangeville grew and expanded during the eighties and nineties, so did the utility. With growth, came an increased demand for electricity. So in 1990, Orangeville Hydro began to construct a 27,600-volt feeder.

· Orangeville Hydro emphasizes safety. In 1999 they were awarded the President's Award from the Electrical and Utilities Safety Association in recognition of 250,000 hours without a lost time injury. They also won the Achievement Award from EUSA in 2002 and 2003.

· Orangeville Hydro became in incorporated entity in October 2001 to comply with Bill 35. As an incorporated entity they provided the Town of Orangeville with $1.2 million at incorporation and covered invoices from the Town for about $240,000. Part of Bill 35 required that Local Distribution Companies like Orangeville Hydro have a 50 / 50 debt / equity ratio. To comply with this, Orangeville had a note with the Town of Orangeville until outside financing could be arranged. Orangeville Hydro then provided the Town of Orangeville with approximately $7.5 million.

· A group of utilities formed a cooperative to help each other through deregulation and to curtail costs. Orangeville Hydro is an active leader in this group known as Cornerstone Hydro-Electric Concepts - The CHEC Group. There are now 20 utilities in this group representing almost 200,000 customers.

· Due to continued growth, another 27,600-volt feeder was added in July of 2003.