Ontario Energy Association Highlights Achievements in 2022 Ontario Energy Awards

TORONTO, Sept. 26, 2022 /CNW/ - Last week, the Ontario Energy Association (OEA) presented the 2022 Ontario Energy Awards to celebrate and profile the accomplishments of Ontario's energy sector over the past year.

The award recipients for 2022 are:

Customer Service

OEC

Through its subsidiary Planview Utility Services, OEC was awarded for its development of a leading-edge location intelligence-based solution that provides a portal where multiple stakeholders can collaborate as they work to connect communities across Ontario.

The solution provides the first provincial-wide collaboration tool, bringing all 60 local distribution companies, more than 400 municipalities, multiple natural gas distributors and 8 internet service providers into a single spatially enabled online platform. The platform was designed to address barriers and streamline coordination to deliver on Ontario's Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program (AHSIP). It addresses utility coordination needs through a robust set of key functionalities that can be leveraged for projects beyond broadband.

Innovation

Hydro One

Hydro One has shown itself to be an industry innovation leader by receiving approval and implementing a Battery Energy Storage Pilot for reliability purposes. This pilot was proposed and received positive guidance from the Ontario Energy Board to complete a Battery Energy Storage pilot for customers who experience a high number of outages.

Hydro One proved this to be an innovative, environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution that demonstrates the potential for utilities to use storage solutions to meet distribution system needs. The pilot has 39 customers enrolled and has prevented 75,763 outage minutes since September and has prevented 61 per cent of outages at 8 per cent the cost a traditional wires solution would have for these customers. This pilot is a significant demonstration of how non-wires alternatives (NWAs) can be used to increase reliability without accruing significant costs in specific circumstances.

Outstanding Employee

Michael McGivery, Enbridge Gas Inc,

Michael McGivery has been a dedicated employee of Enbridge Gas for more than a decade. In his current role as Manager of for Enbridge Gas, Mike leads a team responsible for protecting a complex network of critical infrastructure that helps fuel quality of life for more than 3.8 million customers in Ontario. That's no easy feat – the system Mike supports is North America's largest based on natural gas volumes and comprises 151,000 kilometres of pipelines, which is enough to circle the globe more than three and a half times. Mike maintains a highly positive and approachable nature while leading the annual delivery of approximately 1.2 million locates across Ontario.

Michael blends his technical experience, his passion for safety and his belief in the power of collaboration to achieve industry-leading results. More specifically, Michael is the architect of the company's Damage Reduction Strategy, which focuses on line strikes, one of Enbridge Gas' top operational risks. Through his efforts, there was a 13 per cent decrease in incidents caused by third parties last year. This significant decline in incidents improves the safety of all those who live and work near Enbridge Gas' assets, protects our environment and reduces operational disruptions to customers.

Beyond this, Michael is a recognized leader who is willing to go above and beyond to improve safety on all fronts. This includes his work as Chair of the Locate Solutions Working Group, which comprises One Call Members, all major utilities and excavators. The group is engaging with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery on underground infrastructure safety issues, including the modernization of Ontario One Call legislation (Bill 93) and regulations. Michael's positive attitude is recognized across government and industry, and he's widely regarded as a go-to expert in the field.

Company of the Year

Alectra

February 1, 2022, marked Alectra's five-year anniversary. Alectra was established in 2017 when four progressive local electricity distribution companies (PowerStream, Enersource, Horizon Utilities and Hydro One Brampton) all came together under one common name and purpose. Guelph Hydro later merged with Alectra in 2019.

Since its inception, Alectra has been a leader in supporting community based programs in their service territory through its AlectraCARES Community Support Program. Here are just a few examples of Alectra's leadership in community support:

• They announced a sponsorship with Trillium Health Partners on a 7-year program to fund clinical research into community equity as it relates to mental health services for disadvantaged communities, valued at $1,050,000, this year
• They supported several grassroots food security programs
• A "Fund for Health and Social Innovation" was also created in partnership with Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, with a commitment of $500,000 over five years, to fund research into health issues facing homeless persons and the elderly

Beyond their community support, Alectra has demonstrated excellence and achievement as an organization:

• They were named a GTA Top Employer and were listed as one of the Corporate Knights "Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada";
• Imagine Canada named them a "Caring Company";
• They scored 93% on the UtilityPULSE Customer Satisfaction Survey;
• They have invested over $1 billion in capital projects; and
• They reduced GHG emissions by 20% since 2016

The OEA congratulates Alectra on its many accomplishments since its formation a little over five years ago.

Leader of the Year

Amanda Klein

Amanda is the Executive Vice-President, Public and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Legal Officer at Toronto Hydro. Her work takes her to the heart of the corporation's strategy and operations, and she brings over a decade of experience to her current leadership of Toronto Hydro's advocacy, communications, stakeholder relations, enterprise risk and governance, law, corporate strategy and business development, energy and regulatory policy, as well as streetlighting, emergency management, and business continuity activities

Amanda has a demonstrated track record of business success as well as contributions to the industry and community, and in particular for her recent work driving transformational change to meet some of the sector's biggest challenges such as decarbonization and modernization.

For example, Amanda led the successful effort to win unanimous support and a mandate from the City of Toronto, for Toronto Hydro to implement the next steps of its Climate Action Plan - the first comprehensive plan of its kind developed by a utility, and a key city-building component of Toronto Hydro's Utility of the Future strategic roadmap.

Amanda's leadership qualities have been the engine for her achievements. In particular, Amanda is a strong believer in the importance of electricity and innovation in sustainable city building and is passionate about supporting our sector's paced transformation in a way that delivers long-term values for Ontarians.

About the Ontario Energy Association:

The Ontario Energy Association (OEA) is the credible and trusted voice of the energy sector. We earn our reputation by being an integral and influential part of energy policy development and decision-making in Ontario. We represent Ontario's energy leaders that span the full diversity of the energy industry. Learn more at www.energyontario.ca.

SOURCE Ontario Energy Association (OEA)