The CEO of Hydro Ottawa says the utility is facing a historic level of requests to connect large-scale customers to the city’s power grid. In a presentation to Ottawa City Council on Wednesday, Bryce Conrad said Hydro Ottawa has received 34 requests in the past two years to connect what he called “large load customers” to the grid, which would require nearly 90 per cent of the average amount of power used by the city last year. “These are prospective customers who need a significant amount of electricity, think of government, national defence, hospitals, university campuses, and yes, data centres,” he said. “It’s no secret that there’s a lot of tension these days around data centres, AI technologies, and their tremendous appetite for power.” Conrad said data centres represent more than 60 per cent of the requested capacity and that four of every five large load requests is seeking to be hooked up to the grid in the next two years. “We are being asked to build in support in the next two to three years what has taken us the better part of 110 years to build, and to be clear, that growth is not expected to slow anytime soon.” By comparison, commercial development requests represent around 10 per cent of the total capacity being requested, while public institutions, like government, hospitals and universities, amount to 17 per cent. Green transition technology, particularly as it relates to public transit, represents about seven per cent of requested capacity. Conrad expects that by the end of 2026, the total number of connection requests and their demands will exceed the average amount of power the city already uses. Conrad said he was not seeking any support or action from city council on Wednesday but hoped the presentation would encourage conversations about the future of the utility company. One of the key challenges is the supply chain, which Conrad said has not recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic. Conrad said items that used to take six months to arrive can be delayed by up to four years. “I don’t want to make it as though the sky is falling here, it’s not,” he said. “We’re all in the midst of this electrification agenda. Everybody’s electrifying. Everybody is seeing the same level of demands.” Hydro Ottawa announced its annual dividend to the City of Ottawa on Wednesday, delivering $22.1 million this year. Since 2005, Hydro Ottawa has generated $413 million for the city. In 2025, Hydro Ottawa spent $102 million on replacing aging infrastructure and another $87 million to connect new customers and support municipal infrastructure projects. Also this year, the Ontario Energy Board approved Hydro Ottawa’s application to raise distribution rates by $5.87 a month in 2026. The increase is retroactive to Jan. 1, and an extra $1.80 a month will be added to bills until May 31, 2027, due to the delayed approval, according to the board.
