Welcome to Guelph Hydro Electric Systems:

Welcome to our website and to our company! We hope the information here is useful, helpful and interesting. Please don’t hesitate to take advantage of the many links and contact points it offers to reach us, or to learn more about us and about the dynamic and ever-changing electricity market in Ontario.

What we do

Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc (GHESI) is the local electricity distribution company (LDC) for Guelph and Rockwood. We deliver electricity, maintain the lines to homes and businesses, provide 24-hour emergency service and ensure that we can always meet the electricity supply requirements of our customer community. In industry jargon, our business is often called the “wires” business. Under Section 29 of the Electricity Act, we also provide electricity for customers who do not choose to contract with a licensed electricity retailer. (See Electricity Options)

How GHESI was formed

The electricity market opened to competition on May 1, 2002. This date marks the most significant step in Ontario's electricity supply industry since the creation of the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario about 100 years ago. The former Guelph Hydro (The Board of Light and Heat Commissioners) was restructured under the Energy Competition Act and the new Guelph Hydro Inc. family of companies was incorporated on November 1, 2000. Guelph Hydro Inc. is the parent holding company for the group, which includes GHESI and is the sole shareholder of GHESI. The City of Guelph is the sole shareholder of Guelph Hydro Inc.

As a private sector corporation, GHESI operates under the Ontario Business Corporations Act and is regulated by the Ontario Energy Board. (OEB). Taxes paid by utilities like GHESI are called Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PIL's). These are used by the Government of Ontario to pay off the stranded debt of the former Ontario Hydro. GHESI started operations on January 13, 1907 and we recently celebrated this milestone centenary anniversary with pride.
(See History)

GHESI’s Board of Directors

Guelph City Council, as shareholder, appoints the GHESI Board of Directors. The Board has eight private Directors, currently: Jane Armstrong, Robert Aumell, Brian Cowan, Judy Fountain, Robert Fennell, Barbara Leslie, Rick Thompson, Jasmine Urisk (Chair) and Mayor Karen Farbridge, the shareholder’s representative. For individual profiles of our Board members please visit Board of Directors.

The Conservation Challenge

One of the most important challenges facing our industry is the pressing need for all our customers to save energy and manage its use wisely. Canada is the third largest per capita consumer of energy in the world and more than 80% of our consumption is used in our major urban areas, like Guelph. Like many utilities, Guelph has a significant program of conservation and demand management and we actively encourage you to visit this very special feature of our site.
(See Conservation and Demand Management).

Door-to-Door Energy Retailers

Since the opening of the electricity market you may have been, or will be, contacted by an energy retailer, energy broker or marketer trying to sell you electricity. If you are approached by a retailer/broker remember to ask a few questions. We have outlined some questions you might want to ask in another area of this web site.
(see Energy Retailers)

If a caller says that he/she is representing GHESI and wants to contract with you for energy sales ask for identification and confirmation that they are indeed representing this utility. All of our employees carry identification cards. However, we do not have, nor have we ever had staff from the Guelph Hydro group of companies going door to door to talk to customers about electricity contracts.

The Future

The Ontario electricity industry is dynamic and constantly changing. For example, many utilities are now merging to try and offset the impact of future rate increases for customers, and this creates major change for the industry and for ratepayers.

One thing that will remain constant is our desire to serve you to the very best of our abilities. We have a long history of serving the residents of Guelph and Rockwood and we are committed to continuing that tradition that began more than 100 years ago. GHESI has a well-deserved reputation as being one of the most supply-reliable industries in Ontario, and our customer satisfaction ratings are amongst the highest among Canadian utilities. We pledge to do our very best to maintain those standards of excellence in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our site. Your comments and your feedback are welcomed. Email info@guelphhydro.com