Hydro Ottawa is powering the region’s future

It’s not just about keeping the lights on in the nation’s capital anymore. While that remains a critical function, Hydro Ottawa is undergoing a digital revolution, evolving from a traditional utility into a technology-driven organization for the future.

“The electricity industry is going through a major transformation," says Donna Burnett Vachon, director, change and organization development. “What we’re seeing is a significant move to more technology, more digitization. It’s broadening the skill sets that we’re looking for when it comes to employees joining us.

“While the importance of our trades and technical employees endures, we’re growing in areas where we’re focused on technology. We have employees coming out of new and innovative programs that didn’t exist 10-15 years ago, such as engineers in data analytics programs or sustainability. For example, we’ve got experts in cybersecurity, which we wouldn’t have had in the past."

This digital shift is being driven by evolving industry demands and a growing population with increasing consumer needs.

“There’s been an exponential increase in demand for electricity due to factors like electrification, the growth of data centres and the overall expansion of the city of Ottawa,” explains Sarah Green, director, IT planning, programs and grid technology. “We have e-vehicles coming out. We know we have provincial and federal mandates for zero emissions. All of these have demands that are increasing exponentially, which is in turn increasing the need for more capacity.

“We’re entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where everything is becoming digitized, mobile and connected through the internet of things,” Green continues. “Everything is smart now – even our fridges can connect. We’re able to unlock capabilities and capacities that previously weren’t possible just because of the communication and connectivity that we have through our devices. We have to find solutions to keep up.”

For Hydro Ottawa, this also means embracing new tools and capabilities designed for today’s mobile world while on the job. For instance, employees in the field can access critical information and perform key tasks from their smartphones and tablets from any location.

“We’re piloting digital tailboard solutions, so tasks that used to be manual are now something people can do on their devices in the field,” says Kelly Landry, acting manager, HR service centre and HR technology.

“We’re continuing to streamline all our business processes through automation, and doing away with paper-based processes, making them more accessible for employees wherever they are.”

This mobile-first approach extends to training and development as well. As Burnett Vachon says, “We’re looking for mobile ways to do that so that employees can access e-learning and other types of information all through their smartphone.”

Additionally, Hydro Ottawa is focused on fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration to empower employees to think differently. While Hydro Ottawa has always had a “can-do” culture and problem-solving mindset, the introduction of collaborative tools like Google has enabled more cross-functional collaboration across previously siloed groups.

“We have big projects where we’re working together to find innovative solutions,” says Burnett Vachon. “It’s a really exciting time to be part of what’s happening in electricity right now.”

Another influence is the large number of younger employees, who make up 40 per cent of Hydro Ottawa’s workforce.

“These young employees are helping us evolve in areas from data analytics to sustainability,” says Burnett Vachon. “Our president and CEO actively encourages younger employees to contribute. As he says, ‘You’re here to do meaningful work. If you have an idea, we want to hear it.’”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's National Capital Region's Top Employers winners, published March 4, 2025 in the Ottawa Citizen. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Hydro Ottawa partners in greening Canada’s capital

Shawn Carr exudes excitement about the many ways Hydro Ottawa is helping the community go green. Carr is the manager, customer experience at the municipal utility.

“I feel there’s just so much opportunity for me to exercise passion for ‘greening’ our community, meeting our customers where they are on their energy journey and, of course, providing them with a great customer experience along the way,” says Carr. “I’m very passionate about climate action and finding solutions and new ways to bring value to our customers.”

Hydro Ottawa, headquartered in the city, distributes and generates electricity, and provides energy conservation services and programs for its residential and commercial customers. The utility has made a commitment to be net-zero in its operations by 2030. From its fleet to its facilities, among many other areas, Hydro Ottawa wants to ensure its operations are as green as possible.

“Decarbonization, energy efficiency and interest in technologies like distributed energy resources are becoming more important to our customers as they start to think about their own net-zero journeys,” Carr says. “We’re starting to see the entire energy sector begin to transition to net-zero as well.”

Jim Pegg, director, infrastructure, products and services, works for Envari, a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa. That part of the business takes care of everything leading up to the customer’s meter. Pegg’s customers are municipalities, institutions and governments in eastern Ontario.

“We do lots of work in terms of electrical design for infrastructure, dealing with public and private EV chargers to promote people going into that EV space and getting electric vehicles and zero-emission cars,” says Pegg. “We’re trying to help make it easier for people to choose an electric vehicle or a zero-emission vehicle rather than a standard combustion engine vehicle.”

In addition, he says, “we work with solar panels, solar panel designs and electrical capacity upgrades.”

Part of Pegg’s job is also communication. “We help educate customers and keep them informed on different changes in the market, different funding and grants that are out there that they can take advantage of to green their operations,” Pegg says.

Hydro Ottawa’s culture is driven by its employees, he says. “People are very focused on being environmentally responsible and working on projects that are going to support our community, our environment and the entire global ecosystem,” he says. “We have a very large, diverse team of employees – engineers, project managers, accountants, marketing, designers – who really have a passion and believe in the importance of protecting the environment and trying to make the world a cleaner place for future generations.”

There are numerous ways Hydro Ottawa invests in its employees, notes Carr.

“If I look at my own team, as an example, we’ve paid for training and certifications related to energy efficiency and the types of things we’re supporting our customers with face-to-face,” Carr says. “There are all kinds of different incentives and opportunities for continuing education and training across the company to improve skill sets in the areas in which employees work.”

Working with large customers to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) is another task for Pegg’s team.

“We do pathway-to-zero studies for organizations,” says Pegg. “We help them understand what their current energy footprint is, where the current GHG emissions are and then we map out the different ways that they can reduce their GHG emissions, such as bringing in electric boilers for heating instead of gas boilers. We want to leave things better than we found them.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Greenest Employers winners, published April 16, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Hydro Ottawa offers a high-energy, innovative culture

There are times when Keith Hutt gets to feel like a hometown hero. When Hutt, a powerline technician with Hydro Ottawa, is out there restoring essential electrical service after a major storm, he likes the sense of purpose his work gives him. The Ottawa-based utility generates and delivers electricity to approximately 364,000 homes and businesses in the city of Ottawa and Village of Casselman.

“It makes you feel pretty valuable when people come out to show their appreciation for what we do,” says Hutt, who completed the co-op powerline technician program at Algonquin College, offered in partnership with Hydro Ottawa, before being hired as an apprentice. “The work is very rewarding and the company offers lots of opportunities for career growth and to move around to different departments.”

Hydro Ottawa partners with local educational institutions, such as Algonquin College and Carleton University, to recruit co-op students, including Algonquin’s “We Saved You a Seat” program that aims to attract more women to non-traditional careers. Additionally, the company hosts career events and hires 60-70 students annually during the summer.

Donna Burnett Vachon, director, change and organization development, says there’s a huge opportunity for careers in the electricity industry, which is going through its biggest transformation in the past 100 years. Currently, Hydro Ottawa is undertaking numerous projects to meet the city’s growing needs and support sustainability goals.

“We’re a fast-paced, high-energy, very innovative company with a young workforce – close to 40 per cent of our employees are 35 and under,” says Burnett Vachon. “Hydro Ottawa has a lot of work to do, which presents opportunities for young professionals. We have engineers out of university programs who are working towards their professional engineering licence, so we support them throughout with the right mentors and projects, plus anything additional needed for their licence.”

For example, engineering intern Maiss Al-Obaidi, first came to Hydro Ottawa in 2018 as a co-op student studying sustainable and renewable energy engineering at Carleton University. Several years after her co-op term, she applied again for a different role as a smart grid engineer-in-training and was hired.

“I feel challenged all the time, trying to create solutions and solve problems for the future,” says Al-Obaidi. "My manager always encourages me to flag any gaps I may have so I can further enrich my knowledge.”

The company also offers a large digital learning platform that all employees can access for professional development skills or, on the trade side, for virtual reality scenarios that the apprentices can use for different work processes. Mentoring on the job is another important aspect.

“My female supervisors are very inspiring as my role models,” says Al-Obaidi, who also volunteers for renewable energy organizations and has her own podcast for women in engineering. “They’ve trusted in my capabilities and helped me to feel confident and speak up.”

With the transition to digitization and a commitment to its ambitious goal of achieving net-zero operations by 2030, the company is embracing new technologies and innovation and is looking to add new skillsets and a wider range of talent than in the past.

“We want strong skills and a good educational background, but most importantly, people with energy who are excited about the electricity industry, sustainability and the environment,” says Burnett Vachon. “This is a great chance to do real, meaningful, impactful work at Hydro Ottawa, addressing and finding solutions for real problems in our community.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Employers for Young People winners, published January 21, 2025 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.