Archives

Hydro One Networks offers northern Ontario customers free electricity monitors - Utility spearheads unique energy conservation effort in northern Ontario communities

TORONTO - June 12, 2006 - Residential customers of Hydro One Networks in northern Ontario are in for a pleasant surprise when they open their electricity bill in a few days.

Along with the bill will be a special offer from Hydro One offering residential customers a free electricity monitor made by a Canadian company, Blue Line Innovations.

Called the PowerCost Monitor™, the device gives consumers a quick and easy way of seeing how much they are spending on electricity in real time. It is being offered free of charge to the first 30,000 eligible customers on a first come first served basis.

The initiative will focus on northern Ontario, one of the areas where a successful demonstration pilot was conducted over a year ago. Five hundred Ontario homeowners tested the product and research results showed that real time electricity monitors helped homeowners reduce their consumption of electricity by up to 15%.

The PowerCost monitor takes only minutes to install. The homeowner attaches the sensor unit to the hydro meter on the outside of the home which reads the meter. It then sends a signal to a small companion display unit, which can sit atop the kitchen counter or anywhere else in the home. The display unit shows the homeowner how much money is being spent on electricity from moment to moment. There are no wires used to connect the sensor unit on the meter to the display unit in the home.

This is an important initiative in Hydro One's conservation and demand management program and reflects Hydro One's commitment to building a conservation culture in Ontario.

"We are committed to providing our customers with effective tools to help them better manage their electricity use, and save money on their hydro bill," explained Tom Parkinson, President and CEO of Hydro One. "Blue Line's PowerCost Monitor has proven it can help people conserve electricity and we are pleased to offer this innovative conservation solution to our customers."

Danny Tuff, CEO of Blue Line Innovations, commented on the agreement saying: "Our product gives people the data they need in real time to help them reduce electricity consumption in their homes and to save money. We are looking forward to providing our monitors to the citizens of Ontario through our agreement with Hydro One."

For more information about the PowerCost Monitor customers should visit the Blue Line Innovation Website at: www.save-electricity.ca or call 1-866-607-2583.

About Hydro One Networks

Hydro One owns and operates Ontario's 28,400 kilometre high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 122,000 kilometre low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.2 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Ontario Government.

About Blue Line Innovations

Blue Line Innovations is a Newfoundland and Labrador based firm offering innovative conservation and demand-side management solutions to the energy sector. Key divisions of Blue Line Innovations are involved in product development, marketing, systems engineering and manufacturing. Based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Blue Line is the only developer and provider of this technology in Canada. Given the global focus on energy conservation, Blue Line Innovations is well positioned to support individuals,
utilities and governments in achieving their conservation goals.

For further information:

Shaun Markey, 613-728-9951, shaunmarkey@rogers.com;
Hydro One Media Relations, 416-345-6868, media.relations@hydroone.com

-30-