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Hydro One
Hydro One Limited is an electricity transmission and distribution utility serving the Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 20th century and the establishment of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (renamed "Ontario Hydro" in 1974). In October 1998, the provincial legislature passed the Energy Competition Act which restructured Ontario Hydro into separate entities responsible for electrical generation, transmission/delivery, and price management with a final goal of total privatization.
Hydro One was established at this time as a corporation under the Business Corporations Act with the Government of Ontario as sole shareholder. Following its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2015, the Government of Ontario began selling shares to the public with a final goal of 60% of the company being held by private investors. A report released on December 2, 2015, by the Auditor General of Ontario raised concern with the sale, indicating that power outages are increasing and that Hydro One's equipment is aging and "at very high risk of failing". The estimated cost of necessary repairs was $4.472 billion.
Hydro One is a holding company with four subsidiaries, the largest being Hydro One Networks. It operates 98% of the high voltage transmission grid throughout Ontario, and serves 1.4 million customers primarily in rural areas across the province in its capacity as Ontario's largest distribution utility.
Hydro One's transmission line voltages are 500,000, 230,000 and 115,000 volts AC. Hydro One has interconnections with Manitoba Hydro, Hydro-Québec, Minnesota Power, DTE Energy/ITC, National Grid (the former Niagara Mohawk Power) and the New York Power Authority.
Hydro One works with the transmission and distribution network by connecting generating facilities operated by Ontario Power Generation, Bruce Power, and a number of other privately owned companies, to it. The generators deliver the electricity they generate at hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear facilities to businesses and people across Ontario. The generators have different responsibilities than Hydro One. The power from generators connected to Hydro One's high voltage system is transformed to more than 50 kV (50,000 volts). The transmission-connected generators are registered with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). Transmission lines, strung between metal towers or concrete poles, are not as plentiful as their distribution lines, which are most commonly strung between wooden poles. The distribution system is connected to Hydro One's generating facilities. It delivers the electricity generated at hydroelectric, wind and other facilities to businesses and people across Ontario. These distribution facilities work at voltages of 50 kV or less.
Ontario's electricity grid is made up of a 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities and 123,000 km low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end use customers mainly in rural service areas and smaller municipal communities in the province. More than 75% of the applications to connect small generators are in Hydro One's rural service territory along the company's distribution system. While Hydro One has connected thousands of small projects to the grid it is approaching their technical limits of the wires and equipment in some rural locations. In these areas there are two issues that limit the number of projects that Hydro One can safely connect without putting the grid in jeopardy. The first issue is the physical limits of the power lines and the second is a phenomenon called 'islanding'. In larger areas that are densely populated, Hydro One's wires are thicker and designed to deliver larger amounts of electricity. In rural areas, Hydro One's distribution wires are smaller, thinner and deliver a smaller amount of electricity because they were designed to serve a much smaller number of customers than in large urban centers. These thinner lines deliver electricity safely and reliably to rural customers and are able to support the connection of small generation projects spread across the line, but these lines become over loaded when more electricity is fed back to the grid than the line was built to deliver. In some areas where the program is extremely popular, many generators want to connect to the same thin line but the line is not able to support the transfer of so much electricity.
The second issue is about islanding. Hydro One's distribution system knows how to protect itself under certain conditions. For instance, during a storm if a tree falls on a line, the system shuts itself down, similar to a circuit breaker. This protects the company's customers and employees from accidentally coming into contact with a live electrical line; it also protects appliances like televisions from uncontrolled surges and drops in voltage. In addition, when there is a fault, the line must be dead. Also when solar panels are attached to such lines, they must also be shut down when there is a fault on the line. If they are not shut down, electricity keeps flowing from the solar panels to all points between the panels. This can create an unsafe condition called islanding, which can put at risk customers, employees, and the equipment drawing power from that line. Hydro One prevents islanding by limiting the amount of generation that the company connects in one area; this ensures that the electrical load is greater than generation at all times. Ontario has moved to smart meters, which could support even more solutions to these problems. By using the company's existing network and working with customers, Hydro One is exploring new ways to deliver the cleaner electricity which Ontarians are helping to generate.
Hydro One was created out of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (HEPC or Ontario Hydro), which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara Falls. The first chairman was Adam Beck, minister without portfolio in the provincial government of Sir James P. Whitney. Beck had been an advocate for a publicly owned electricity grid.
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Hydro One
Hydro One Limited is an electricity transmission and distribution utility serving the Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 20th century and the establishment of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (renamed "Ontario Hydro" in 1974). In October 1998, the provincial legislature passed the Energy Competition Act which restructured Ontario Hydro into separate entities responsible for electrical generation, transmission/delivery, and price management with a final goal of total privatization.
Hydro One was established at this time as a corporation under the Business Corporations Act with the Government of Ontario as sole shareholder. Following its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2015, the Government of Ontario began selling shares to the public with a final goal of 60% of the company being held by private investors. A report released on December 2, 2015, by the Auditor General of Ontario raised concern with the sale, indicating that power outages are increasing and that Hydro One's equipment is aging and "at very high risk of failing". The estimated cost of necessary repairs was $4.472 billion.
Hydro One is a holding company with four subsidiaries, the largest being Hydro One Networks. It operates 98% of the high voltage transmission grid throughout Ontario, and serves 1.4 million customers primarily in rural areas across the province in its capacity as Ontario's largest distribution utility.
Hydro One's transmission line voltages are 500,000, 230,000 and 115,000 volts AC. Hydro One has interconnections with Manitoba Hydro, Hydro-Québec, Minnesota Power, DTE Energy/ITC, National Grid (the former Niagara Mohawk Power) and the New York Power Authority.
Hydro One works with the transmission and distribution network by connecting generating facilities operated by Ontario Power Generation, Bruce Power, and a number of other privately owned companies, to it. The generators deliver the electricity they generate at hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear facilities to businesses and people across Ontario. The generators have different responsibilities than Hydro One. The power from generators connected to Hydro One's high voltage system is transformed to more than 50 kV (50,000 volts). The transmission-connected generators are registered with the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). Transmission lines, strung between metal towers or concrete poles, are not as plentiful as their distribution lines, which are most commonly strung between wooden poles. The distribution system is connected to Hydro One's generating facilities. It delivers the electricity generated at hydroelectric, wind and other facilities to businesses and people across Ontario. These distribution facilities work at voltages of 50 kV or less.
Ontario's electricity grid is made up of a 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities and 123,000 km low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end use customers mainly in rural service areas and smaller municipal communities in the province. More than 75% of the applications to connect small generators are in Hydro One's rural service territory along the company's distribution system. While Hydro One has connected thousands of small projects to the grid it is approaching their technical limits of the wires and equipment in some rural locations. In these areas there are two issues that limit the number of projects that Hydro One can safely connect without putting the grid in jeopardy. The first issue is the physical limits of the power lines and the second is a phenomenon called 'islanding'. In larger areas that are densely populated, Hydro One's wires are thicker and designed to deliver larger amounts of electricity. In rural areas, Hydro One's distribution wires are smaller, thinner and deliver a smaller amount of electricity because they were designed to serve a much smaller number of customers than in large urban centers. These thinner lines deliver electricity safely and reliably to rural customers and are able to support the connection of small generation projects spread across the line, but these lines become over loaded when more electricity is fed back to the grid than the line was built to deliver. In some areas where the program is extremely popular, many generators want to connect to the same thin line but the line is not able to support the transfer of so much electricity.
The second issue is about islanding. Hydro One's distribution system knows how to protect itself under certain conditions. For instance, during a storm if a tree falls on a line, the system shuts itself down, similar to a circuit breaker. This protects the company's customers and employees from accidentally coming into contact with a live electrical line; it also protects appliances like televisions from uncontrolled surges and drops in voltage. In addition, when there is a fault, the line must be dead. Also when solar panels are attached to such lines, they must also be shut down when there is a fault on the line. If they are not shut down, electricity keeps flowing from the solar panels to all points between the panels. This can create an unsafe condition called islanding, which can put at risk customers, employees, and the equipment drawing power from that line. Hydro One prevents islanding by limiting the amount of generation that the company connects in one area; this ensures that the electrical load is greater than generation at all times. Ontario has moved to smart meters, which could support even more solutions to these problems. By using the company's existing network and working with customers, Hydro One is exploring new ways to deliver the cleaner electricity which Ontarians are helping to generate.
Hydro One was created out of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (HEPC or Ontario Hydro), which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara Falls. The first chairman was Adam Beck, minister without portfolio in the provincial government of Sir James P. Whitney. Beck had been an advocate for a publicly owned electricity grid.