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Hydro One sending fresh crews to Florida following plea from Florida Power & Light

Sept. 27, 2004 — Hydro One is sending about 220 fresh staff to Florida to help restore power for millions of residents following damage by Hurricane Jeanne, the fourth hurricane to hit the state within six weeks.

Florida Power and Light (FP&L) made a special request for Hydro One staff after the storm hit the coast very late Saturday. The utility is still determining extent of damage to its system.

"We thought our work in Florida was complete, but under these extremely unusual and devastating circumstances we've got to help out our friends in the U.S.," said Hydro One President and CEO Tom Parkinson. "I think it's a tremendous tribute to the quality and professionalism of our staff that FP&L was so insistent on wanting our people back."

Convoys are crossing the border at Windsor, Fort Erie, and Gananoque near Kingston today.

All costs of the restoration efforts will be paid by Florida Power and Light. Ontario electricity customers will not be required to subsidize these efforts.

Hydro One still has sufficient resources to draw on if storms inflict damage on its own system.

Hydro One owns and operates the province-wide electricity high voltage transmission network and largest low voltage distribution system in Ontario that serves over one million end-use customers. Hydro One is wholly-owned by the provincial government.

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For more information, contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868. Please visit our Florida effort Web page at http://www.hydroonenetworks.com/en/media/florida_hurricane/default.asp.