Hydro One statement regarding the annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman

TORONTO, June 23, 2014 /CNW/ - Carmine Marcello, President and CEO, Hydro One Inc. issued the following statement today in response to the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario's Annual Report:

Since the announcement of the Special Ombudsman Response Team investigation,
Hydro One has worked collaboratively with Ombudsman's staff on the investigation while dedicating time and resources on resolving billing issues related to delayed bills and bills using repeated estimated consumption.

Hydro One has reviewed the Ombudsman's Annual Report and would like its customers to know that we have been working tirelessly – and have made progress -- to resolve the customer service issues currently before us.

We are taking the opportunity to not only resolve technical problems that resulted from introducing a new billing system, but to also improve service through new customer friendly policies and by changing our customer service culture.

I want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we work to deliver the service they expect and deserve.

We recognize that, in addition to its Annual Report, the Ombudsman's Office will continue with its investigation of Hydro One billing practices.

Progress Update

• To date, Hydro One has received 1,733 complaints from the Office of the Ombudsman and has successfully resolved 1,567 with customers.
• Hydro One is successfully billing 98.4% of its customers on time, improved from 95% at the launch of the Ombudsman's investigation.
• Hydro One is currently billing 99.2% of its customers on actual usage and is working steadily to decrease the number of accounts persistently billing on estimates.
• Hydro One has introduced a 10-day commitment for resolving customer issues, with a resolution within 10 days or by a promised date.
• Hydro One has made changes to call centre training, introduced policies such as interest-free payment plans for customers who receive bills to cover long billing periods and waived service charges for customers who have been inconvenienced.
• Of customers who have been offered the choice of a credit on their bill or a refund, Hydro One has issued 5,112 cheques.

For more details concerning the status of Hydro One's efforts to resolving billing system issues, please visit: http://www.hydroone.com/WorkingtoGetBetter

Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario's 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 121,000 km low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Province of Ontario.

SOURCE: Hydro One Inc.

contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868. Our website is www.HydroOne.com.