Our role in today’s electricity market
The City of London is the sole shareholder of London Hydro. We are responsible for providing London residents and business owners with a safe, efficient and reliable supply of electricity.
London Hydro delivers electricity to its diverse customer base through an extensive network of overhead and underground power lines of more than 1900 kilometers in length. This network is fully owned, operated and maintained by London Hydro.
London Hydro does not generate, or set the price for, electricity. The electricity it supplies is purchased from the electricity spot market and the cost of this power is passed on to customers without mark up.
Under the terms of Bill 35, The Ontario Energy Competition Act 1998, London Hydro – like all local distribution companies – is not permitted to conduct unregulated business activities that are considered to be competitive in nature, such as retail product sales and service.
London Hydro bills customers for water and sewage usage on behalf of the City of London, but it is not responsible for providing water or sewer services. These services are owned, operated and maintained by the City of London.
how we bring you electricity
from the generator to the refrigerator…
As electricity travels from generating stations across the province and into your home, electricity undergoes a lot of change. What starts out as a huge amount of power at very high voltages soon gets broken down into smaller amounts of energy at lower and lower voltages. This step-by-step guide documents the journey of electricity.
1. Power is generated from a variety of sources: Bruce and Darlington/Pickering nuclear power plants, Niagara Falls hydro-electric power plant, the Lakeview coal burning plant and others. This extremely high voltage power (230,000 volts and more) is channeled along through an extensive network of transmission towers.
2. This electricity is then directed to serve major load centres throughout the province as needed. Large transformer stations lower the voltage from 230 kV to a typical voltage of 27.6 or 13.8 kV.
3. Once the voltage is lowered, it is then transmitted along lines that will carry the electricity directly to transformers on the street or sometimes to municipal substations that often look like ordinary neighbourhood dwellings.
4. Transformers within these substations step down the voltage further from 27.6 or 13.8 kV and are equipped to meet the specific energy needs of the communities they serve.
5. From here, the electricity is delivered through London Hydro’s own network of power lines along city streets. Just before it comes to your home it passes through the last step-down transformer, which reduces the voltage to 120 volts, the most common voltage used in our homes and businesses.
