Hydro One to invest $20M in Ontario cottage country infrastructure
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Investment will ensure lines are better protected from falling trees
HUNTSVILLE, Ont.—As the Ontario government prepares its second sell-off of Hydro One shares, the partially-privatized company has announced plans to invest $20 million in its infrastructure network in the Muskoka and Parry Sound, Ont. regions.
Designed to improve reliability by better protecting transmission lines from falling trees, the investment will go toward line clearing and annual maintenance on the electrical infrastructure through more than 1,000 kilometres of southern Ontario forest.
“Our customers are at the focus of everything we do, we know they count on us to maintain a safe and reliable electricity network they can depend on,” Jon Rebick, vice-president of Provincial Lines and Forestry at Hydro One, said.
The company said trees are the largest cause of power outages throughout Ontario’s densely wooded cottage country area. In 2015, for example, trees caused more than 400 outages along the targeted segments of line located northwest of Toronto.
The company said the work has already begun, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
