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Orangeville Hydro lays out its 2023 performance

June 13, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Orangeville Hydro continued last year to grapple with supply issues that have been the result of fallout from the pandemic.

Rob Koekkoek, the utility’s president and CEO, told council on June 3 that 2023 was a year that brought new challenges and continued those from prior years. Supply chain constraints and inflationary pressures continued worldwide.

“While solutions were found for many supply chain issues, there were still constraints on critical infrastructure equipment throughout the year,” according to the utility’s annual report that was tabled for council.

He said the utility’s distribution system provided reliable service throughout the year.

“Our average customer experienced less than 18 minutes of power outages due to issues within Orangeville Hydro’s service area,” Koekkoek wrote.

According to the annual report, Orangeville Hydro is a cost-effective and efficient company. Its regulated revenue per customer is the 11th lowest in Ontario

Customers in Orangeville and Grand Valley, the utility’s service area, benefit from lower distribution costs than most areas of the province, he said.

Amy Long, the chief financial officer, said expenses were higher last year because of increased labour costs and higher consultant costs in preparation for the cost-of-service rate application that was filed with the Ontario Energy Board.

She said there were increases in Human Resource (HR) costs, conference costs, legal costs, and bad debt expenses.

“We did see higher finance costs as our debt increases,” she said. “We’re seeing the higher costs which was offset by increases [in] interest income because of the higher interest rates.”

Long said the total debt in 2023 was 54 per cent compared to total shareholders’ equity of 46 per cent.

“We did not take new debt in 2023,” she said. “Debt is typically taken to finance general operating requirements as well as to fund our capital expenditures and regulatory variances.”

Orangeville Hydro achieved a net income of $1,012,026 and a regulatory return on equity of 8.25 per cent, just under its deemed return on equity of 9.36 per cent.

“Looking forward to 2024, Orangeville Hydro will continue to focus on exceeding our customers’ expectations as challenges arise such as continued rising costs and supply chain constraints on critical infrastructure components,” Koekkoek wrote.

Koekkoek said Orangeville Hydro will be working with the Town of Orangeville and contractors throughout the upcoming water meter replacement program.

“The valuable information received from our customers through our past customer satisfaction surveys, social media channels, open house, and day-to-day comments will drive our initiatives to improve our customers’ experience and ensure we are providing the service they expect and deserve from their electric utility,” he wrote in the report.

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