Organizational Effectiveness
We will achieve performance excellence by cultivating a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
Performance excellence is an objective we strive toward in every area of our operations, in order to provide effective, efficient service to our customers and deliver solid returns to our shareholder, now and in the future.
Particularly important are the continuance of Hydro Ottawa’s exceptional health and safety record, the development of a skilled, engaged and prepared workforce for the future, and leveraging technology and innovation to improve our efficiency and enhance service.
As we prepare for a future of smart grids, evolving customer expectations, and increasing emphasis on conservation and renewable energy, efficient and effective operations have never been more important to Hydro Ottawa.
A Strong Focus on Productivity
The Ontario Energy Board regularly compares the operating, maintenance and administration costs of Ontario utilities, and Hydro Ottawa’s costs per customer have consistently been lower than the provincial average. A recent Ontario Energy Board report comparing the unit operating costs of Ontario electrical utilities ranked Hydro Ottawa 12th of 81 utilities in the province.
Since 2007, Hydro Ottawa has set and achieved annual productivity improvement targets, and in 2009 we continued to focus on maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations by reducing waste and optimizing productivity at every opportunity. The Ontario Energy Board now establishes annual productivity improvement expectations through its multi-year rate setting process, referred to as the Third Generation Incentive Regulation Mechanism. In keeping with our focus on continuous improvement, Hydro Ottawa sets internal targets for productivity improvement, across all of our operations, in addition to these OEB mandated efficiencies.
Hydro Ottawa has achieved cost savings through productivity improvement of more than $7 million over the past three years, by restructuring its operations into four zones to reduce travel time, integrating apprentices into overhead line crews, leveraging new technologies for improved scheduling and dispatching of field work, a move to paperless processing for new and upgraded customer connections to the distribution system, and other measures. Energy Ottawa continued to achieve efficient operations at its generation facilities, achieving plant availability of 97 percent.
A Healthy and Prepared Workforce
At Hydro Ottawa, we understand that our employees are our greatest asset. Recruiting, developing and retaining highly skilled employees, and ensuring they remain safe on the job, is crucial to Hydro Ottawa’s continued success, and our mission to provide excellent value to our customers, our shareholder, and our community.
Our commitment to these objectives was acknowledged recently when Hydro Ottawa was named one of the National Capital Region’s Top 25 Employers for a second straight year. This prestigious award, sponsored by MediaCorp and adjudicated by an independent panel of judges, recognizes Hydro Ottawa and other employers in the region that offer exceptional places to work.
A fundamental component of Hydro Ottawa’s commitment to operating efficiently and effectively is the very high priority we place on protecting the health and safety of our employees. In 2007, Hydro Ottawa completed the integration of its health and safety and environmental management systems, achieving two internationally recognized standards of management. In 2009, the company was recertified to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 Environmental Management System standard for a sixth consecutive year, and recertified to the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 standard for a third straight year.
While safety is paramount, Hydro Ottawa’s commitment to our employees goes far beyond their health and safety. Our aim is to create a workplace that fosters employee satisfaction and productivity, while ensuring opportunities for skills development and growth.
have consistently been lower
than the provincial average.
In 2009, Hydro Ottawa continued to emphasize skills development by providing ongoing training opportunities throughout the organization, and continued to develop tomorrow’s workforce through its skilled trades apprenticeship programs. In 2010, Hydro Ottawa will graduate six apprentices to journeyperson status, marking the completion of a four to five year process for each of these employees.
The company currently has 50 apprentices active in various stages of its Trades Apprenticeship Programs, training to become Powerline Maintainers, Cable Jointers, Meter Technicians, Stations Electricians and System Operators. In 2009, the company also introduced an Engineering Intern Training and Development Program, and continues to implement management and leadership development programs to facilitate leadership succession and train and develop front-line Supervisors, Managers and emerging leaders. These programs position Hydro Ottawa to deal effectively with the industry-wide challenge of an aging workforce, by ensuring effective skills development and the transfer of critical knowledge from one generation to the next.
A Focus on Innovation
Hydro Ottawa also continues to leverage new technologies to enhance service and prepare for the future. Increasingly, technology is enabling utilities to identify and respond to problems in the electricity distribution system more quickly, to improve service to customers and provide them with more information and control, and to offer value-added services to meet customers’ evolving needs and expectations – innovations increasingly recognized as the development of a Smart Grid.
With more than 99 percent of electricity meters in our service territory now replaced by Smart Meters, Hydro Ottawa has one of the largest active Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems in Canada. This eliminates the need for field readings for the vast majority of Hydro Ottawa customers, avoiding estimated readings for meters in difficult to access locations and making moves and new service connections more seamless and convenient.
In addition, Hydro Ottawa has continued to introduce more intelligence and automation into our distribution system, building on the substantial investments already made, such as the conversion to Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping that was completed in 2007. In 2009, Hydro Ottawa continued to improve its ability to diagnose and respond to outages from its system control centre, by deploying more sensors within the distribution system, and more controls that can be remotely operated to re-route power when problems occur. These investments improve service to customers through faster outage response times. The company also deployed a new interactive voice response (IVR) system on its customer outage reporting line, enhancing customer service while dramatically reducing blocked calls and reducing average call handling time from three minutes to less than one.
In 2010, Hydro Ottawa will complete the development of a more detailed Smart Grid plan, as required by the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, and a broader technology strategy to maximize the effectiveness of future technology investments, for the benefit of our customers and shareholder.
