Toronto Hydro receives Industry Award for Corporate Responsibility

TORONTO, March 20, 2013 /CNW/ - Toronto Hydro Corporation (Toronto Hydro) is pleased to announce that it was recognized on Monday for its Corporate Responsibility (CR) efforts by the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA).

The EDA is the voice of Ontario's local electricity distributors, the publicly and privately owned companies that safely and reliably deliver electricity to over four million Ontario homes, businesses and public institutions.

"We're honoured to be recognized by our peers for our corporate responsibility efforts," said Blair Peberdy, Vice President Communications and Public Affairs. "Although we've published a CR Report for many years, this is the first time that we used it as a strategic communications piece to convey our ongoing commitment to sustainability."

A comprehensive communications strategy was developed to raise awareness about sustainability initiatives and Toronto Hydro conducted enhanced stakeholder engagement. Here are some highlights from the program:

• Based on stakeholder surveying conducted, the majority of stakeholders indicated Toronto Hydro is ethical as well as environmentally, socially and financially responsible;
  
  
• Online and social media were leveraged to raise external awareness. The CR website saw a 51 per cent growth in yearly traffic over 2011; Our Facebook Fans and Twitter followers increased and tweets during the launch of the report garnered a potential reach of over 15,000;
  
  
• More than 600 employees volunteered or participated in Community Involvement activities including the United Way campaign, Take Our Kids to Work event and the Clean Air Commute;
  
  
• 200 trees were planted as part of Toronto Hydro's commitment to reducing our impact on the environment. Over 3,000 trees have been planted by staff since 2004.

Toronto Hydro was previously recognized by PR News, a U.S. based organization that focuses on learning and training opportunities for the communications community, for its CR efforts in Stakeholder Engagement. The utility also received an honourable mention from Green Living's Excellence in Corporate Responsibility Awards.

"With sustainability, our work is never done. We're always looking for opportunities to improve, and we rely on our stakeholders to help keep us on track," said Blair Peberdy.

Part of CR is cultivating a safe and healthy workforce and in December 2012, Toronto Hydro was ranked one of Canada's Top Family Friendly Employers for 2013 by Mediacorp Canada Inc. Winners were chosen based on the programs they have in place to assist families.

Toronto Hydro was also acknowledged as one of the Greater Toronto's Top Employers for 2013 and one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. Both awards were chosen by editors at Mediacorp and companies were compared to their peers.

For more information on Toronto Hydro's corporate responsibility report 'OUR WORLD. OUR CITY. OUR RESPONSIBILITY' visit www.torontohydro.com/responsibility

Toronto Hydro Corporation is a holding company, which wholly-owns two subsidiaries:

• Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited - which distributes electricity and engages in conservation and demand management ("CDM") activities; and
  
  
• Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. - which provides street lighting services.

The principal business of the Corporation and its subsidiaries is the distribution of electricity by Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited. Toronto Hydro-Electric System owns and operates an electricity distribution system, which delivers electricity to approximately 719,000 customers located in the City of Toronto.  It is the largest municipal electricity distribution company in Canada and distributes approximately 19% of the electricity consumed in the Province of Ontario.

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SOURCE: Toronto Hydro Corporation

Tanya Bruckmueller, Toronto Hydro-Electric System 
[email protected]
W: 416-542-2621
C: 416-903-0440