On behalf of the Board of Directors of Hydro Ottawa Group, our management and employees, we are pleased to provide this 2025 Annual Report to our shareholder, the City of Ottawa. This marks our fifth and final progress report under our 2021-2025 Strategic Direction.
Once again, we are pleased to present a comprehensive overview of our results from the year that was. But doing justice to this synopsis — and to the stakeholder interested in meaningful insights — means situating it in a much broader context than a single annual reporting cycle.
Last year marked the culmination of a five-year strategic planning term during which Hydro Ottawa Group underwent a profound transformation. The company that exited 2025 was very different from the one that entered 2021. Throughout a succession of historic disruptions, we demonstrated extraordinary resilience from both an operational and cultural perspective. Our organizational architecture was fundamentally re-shaped through a financial restructuring and the launch of new business lines. Our workforce demographics shifted significantly — trending newer, younger, more diverse, and more proficient in digital tools and technologies.
Simply put, the scope of our recent evolution has been expansive; the pace of change, breathtaking.
And yet, we know that the complexity and uncertainty of the past five years will only accelerate going forward. As noted below, we have refreshed our business strategy to ensure we continue thriving and delivering value to customers in the face of a turbulent external environment.
From this vantage point, 2025 can be viewed as a bridge between two re-defining chapters in our company’s history.
In 2025, our core business lines performed well. Combined revenue from our electricity distribution, renewable generation, energy solutions and telecommunications businesses (excluding power recovery) exceeded $395 million, resulting in net income of $35.4 million. This will translate into a dividend payment of $22.1 million to our shareholder.
Each of our subsidiaries achieved a major milestone. In electricity distribution, we delivered the largest single-year grid investment in our history. In energy solutions, we generated record revenue for the fifth consecutive year. In our newest business line, telecommunications, we secured contracts with large commercial and institutional customers.
From a long-term growth perspective, perhaps the most noteworthy milestone was a strategic pivot in our renewable generation business. We transitioned to an active development posture, establishing a pipeline of 800 megawatts of solar and battery storage projects. This reflects our ambitions to be a leader in the sustainable energy revolution and to capitalize on the opportunities for growth as demand for clean electricity rises in Ontario and elsewhere.
Our accomplishments in 2025 attest to two important truths: the transition to sustainable energy is happening in real time and Hydro Ottawa Group is at the vanguard of action in our community.
Examples abound of progress at scale. As lead partner for the City’s flagship project to electrify its bus fleet, we enabled the deployment of additional zero emission buses through the installation of charging infrastructure and equipment. We deployed decarbonization measures — heat pumps, electric boilers, lighting upgrades, building automation systems — across municipal facilities, community housing, and major sites like the Ottawa Airport. One of our programs, the Ottawa Retrofit Accelerator, became so popular with building owners seeking reduced emissions and lower costs that its available funding is now fully subscribed.
But we also did work behind the scenes, in smaller, quieter steps: supporting homeowners interested in rooftop solar; partnering with schools wanting better air quality for students; and minimizing our own footprint, by reducing the carbon content of new substations and equipping more of our crews with electric vehicles.
Big or small, community or corporate — the solutions we put in place last year advanced us further down the path towards the sustainable energy future we are committed to building.
As a municipally-owned company, we embrace our duty to contribute to the public good. Our community relies on us to be steadfast in our presence and service, and to play an essential role in not just preserving, but enhancing, their quality of life.
Fulfilling this social compact begins with delivering the electricity services which are the mainstay of our way of life. Last year, we made historic investments in our grid: $102 million in replacing aging assets and strengthening capacity, and another $87 million in connecting new customers and supporting municipal infrastructure projects. This helped maintain our best-in-class reliability, with customers having power 99.97 per cent of the time on average. Notably, along the way we set a new safety record for the company, with 1.5 million hours logged without a lost time injury.
With our city forging ahead on an ambitious development trajectory, we have been focused on building the sustainable and resilient energy systems which will catalyze Ottawa’s long-term growth. In 2025, we finalized a grid investment program for the next five years and sought approval from our regulator, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). As we applied the finishing touches to this Annual Report, we received the OEB’s decision and are now preparing to execute what will be an unprecedented expansion and modernization of our distribution system.
For Hydro Ottawa Group, being a community builder and champion extends beyond simply managing physical infrastructure. We continued our long-standing practice last year of being a company that “gives where it lives” by contributing approximately $450,000 in employee giving and corporate donations to local partners like The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre and United Way East Ontario. In addition, in the midst of a challenging economic climate, we were pleased to support community-based suppliers, spending $115 million on locally-sourced goods and services (representing a 30 per cent year-over-year increase).
Looking back on our 2021-2025 term, we are proud of our transformation and track record. But as the old saying reminds us, the past is merely prologue. Against the backdrop of a business environment in constant flux, and with the sustainable energy transition revving into high gear, our attention and excitement are directed firmly towards the future.
In that spirit, we are delighted that this Annual Report is being accompanied by the unveiling of our 2026-2030 Strategic Direction. This refreshed strategy is Hydro Ottawa Group’s game plan for reengineering and reimagining how we do business in light of drivers and pressures such as electrification, artificial intelligence, extreme weather, cybersecurity and distributed energy. Our strategy maps out how we will navigate the attendant challenges and opportunities, and turn them into springboards for success.
We are confident that our diverse lines of business will continue to create significant value for customers, and serve both as a bulwark against uncertainty and a gateway to a sustainable future.
Our accomplishments attest to two important truths: the transition to sustainable energy is happening in real time and we are at the vanguard of action in our community.
Bernie Ashe
Chair, Board of Directors
Against the backdrop of a business environment in constant flux, our attention and excitement are directed firmly towards the future.
Bryce Conrad
President and Chief Executive Officer
Learn more about Hydro Ottawa Group’s numerous initiatives and accomplishments in 2025.
2711 Hunt Club Road, PO Box 8700
Ottawa ON K1G 3S4
Phone (613) 738-6400 • Fax (613) 738-6403
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