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Hydro One assures customers that the lights will stay on throughout a strike by the Society of Energy Professionals

TORONTO, May 24 /CNW/ - Hydro One today assured its customers that it is
prepared for a May 25th strike by the Society of Energy Professionals
(the Society).
"Our contingency plan was enacted last week, has been in place throughout
the long weekend and it has worked extremely well," said Rick Kellestine,
Vice President in charge of contingency planning. "We have been ready for this
strike for quite some time and we are confident that our customers should see
little or no impact. We have well trained staff deployed in key operational
positions to ensure that our systems remain fully operational."
Hydro One developed and tested detailed operational plans to operate
Ontario's electricity system without Society staff in anticipation of a
strike. Management staff, specifically trained to assume key operational
positions, did so on May 19th based on information that a strike was imminent.
The operational plans, including enhanced security measures, will remain in
place for what is expected to be extended strike action beginning May 25th.
"Our plans are based on the assumption that the Society strike could last
six months," added Kellestine. "Our goal is to ensure that our customers are
not inconvenienced by any Society strike action and fully expect that the
system will operate on a business-as-usual basis."
Hydro One has been attempting to reach a two-party agreement with the
Society of Energy Professionals since January. A backgrounder on current
Society member's wage, pension and benefits is attached.

Backgrounder
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May 24, 2005

Society Wage Pension and Benefits
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Who are Society-represented staff and what work do they do?

Hydro One employs 1,038 staff represented by the Society of Energy
Professionals

Society-represented employees include scientists, accountants,
IT specialists, auditors, engineers, electricity system planners and
supervisors.

They are not line maintainers, system operators, foresters, transformer
station maintainers, customer service representatives or clerical staff.

How much are Society-represented employees paid?

- The highest paid Society-represented employee made $181,754 for 2004,
including overtime.
- In 2004 one-third of Hydro One Society-represented employees (326)
earned more than $100,000 and appear on Ontario's Public Sector Salary
Disclosure list
- The top salary (base pay only) for a Society-represented employee is
$114,114 per year.

What kind of retirement income do they get?

Society-represented staff receive generous pensions.

For example, a senior engineer with 30 years of service at the top of the
range for the past three years, retiring in 2007 will get a $74,022
annual pension for life.

Pensions are fully indexed to 100% of Ontario CPI with an annual max
of 8%

Survivor benefit is 66-2/3% for the life of their spouse.

Even new grads get a starting salary of approximately $50,000 plus
pension and benefits.

And what about their benefits?

Hydro One Society-represented employees are covered by a comprehensive
extended-health and dental plan. Here are some highlights:

Prescription drug plan
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Society staff pay only $10-20 deductible per year for prescription drugs
- after that, prescription medication is free.

Hospital rooms and private nursing
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Private hospital rooms are covered at 100%
Private duty nursing covered at $50,000 per year

Vision care
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$400 every two years for prescription glasses or contacts
$3,000 for laser eye surgery

Dental care/orthodontics
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Dental work is covered at up to 100% depending on the type of procedure
Braces or other orthodontic work covered at 75%

Travel health insurance
-----------------------
Out-of-country travel insurance is completely covered, anywhere in the
world.

Paramedical
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Physiotherapy - 100% coverage
Chiropractic -- $650 per year
Homeopathy -- $500 per year

For further information: Contact Peter Gregg, Vice President, Corporate
Communications, (416) 345-6072