Toronto Hydro is the electricity distribution company owned by the City of Toronto. Its roots lie in the Toronto Hydro-Electric System, the public utility that began delivering Niagara power to Toronto customers in 1911 after a campaign for public ownership led by Adam Beck. Today the City is the sole shareholder of Toronto Hydro Corporation, which was incorporated in 1999 under Ontario’s Business Corporations Act, and the Ontario Energy Board regulates its electricity distribution subsidiary.
Toronto Hydro is a separate organization from the provincial company Ontario Hydro, which ceased operating on April 1, 1999 and was replaced by successor companies. The sections below trace how a private electric lighting business gave way to a municipal utility and then to a municipally owned corporation.
Gas lamps and the first electric lights
The City of Toronto’s online exhibit “Turning on Toronto” begins with gas. Toronto’s streets were first lit by gas lamps in December 1841, supplied by the City of Toronto Gas Light and Water Company. The Consumers’ Gas Company was formed in 1848 and held a monopoly on street gas lighting through the 1870s.
Electric light arrived in 1879, when two arc lamps powered by a small steam-driven generator were shown at McConkey’s Restaurant at 145 Yonge Street. In 1881 John Joseph Wright built the first Canadian-made electric generator, and in 1883 he incorporated the Toronto Electric Light Company (TELC). Stockbroker Henry Mill Pellatt led a group of businessmen who invested in it. In 1884 City Council split the street lighting contract between gas and electricity, ending the gas monopoly. A rival, the Toronto Incandescent Electric Light Company, began operating in 1889 and was taken over by TELC in 1896.
The private syndicate and Niagara power
By the 1900s TELC belonged to a group of investors that the exhibit calls the Syndicate, whose best-known members were Pellatt, Frederic Nicholls, and William Mackenzie. In 1903 they formed the Electrical Development Company, which built a powerhouse at Niagara Falls. The exhibit records that hydro-electric power from Niagara reached Toronto on November 19, 1906, and flowed to TELC customers two days later. The first Niagara power in Toronto was therefore private, not public.
The campaign for public power
Critics of the Syndicate wanted electricity delivered at cost by a public body. Alderman F. S. Spence of Toronto was a consistent champion of municipal ownership, and on June 9, 1902, civic leaders and businessmen meeting in Berlin (now Kitchener) proposed a provincial commission that would transmit power for municipalities to buy. Adam Beck, a member of the provincial legislature, became the movement’s leading figure. In 1906 the province passed an act, drawn up by Beck, that created the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (HEPCO) with Beck as chairman. The Canadian Encyclopedia also dates the Ontario Hydro utility to 1906. A 1907 act made the province the wholesaler of power and municipalities the retailers.
Toronto moved in steps. A by-law effective January 1, 1907, allowed council to contract with HEPCO for power at no more than $18.10 per horsepower per year. On January 1, 1908, ratepayers approved a bond issue of $2,750,000 to build a municipal distribution network, and the City signed its agreement with HEPCO on May 4, 1908. Some accounts place the contract in June 1908, so the day is not agreed between sources.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1841 | Gas street lamps first light Toronto streets |
| 1883 | Toronto Electric Light Company incorporated |
| November 19, 1906 | Private Niagara power reaches Toronto |
| 1906 | Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario created, with Adam Beck as chairman |
| May 4, 1908 | City signs its agreement with the Commission |
| February 24, 1911 | Public power first reaches Toronto over provincial lines |
| May 2, 1911 | Official turning-on ceremony at City Hall |
| June 1911 | Control passes to the Toronto Electric Commissioners |
| 1998 | Six Metro-area utilities combined as one Toronto Hydro |
| April 1, 1999 | Ontario Hydro replaced by successor companies |
| 1999 | Toronto Hydro Corporation incorporated, with the City as sole shareholder |
The Toronto Hydro-Electric System, 1911
Attempts to buy TELC’s assets failed because the company would not sell at a price the City accepted, so the City built its own network. A sub-department of the City Engineer’s Department, with K. L. Aitken supervising under City Engineer C. H. Rust, built the substations and distribution lines, and Aitken coined the name Toronto Hydro-Electric System. Power first arrived over the provincial transmission lines on February 24, 1911.
The official ceremony took place on May 2, 1911. Guests attended a banquet at the King Edward Hotel and then went to City Hall, where a large picture of Niagara Falls hung over the main entrance. Premier James Whitney asked Beck to press the button that started the flow of power. According to the exhibit, water poured over the picture as the lights came on and drenched several guests standing below.
The Toronto Electric Commissioners
About a month after the ceremony, City Council transferred control of the system to a three-member board called the Toronto Electric Commissioners. The first members were P. W. Ellis as chairman, appointed by council, Mayor G. R. Geary as an ex officio member, and H. L. Drayton, appointed by HEPCO. Ellis chaired the board for 18 years, until his death on April 21, 1929. In 1913 he hired H. H. Couzens as general manager.
The system grew quickly. By the end of 1913 it had nearly 25,000 customers, more than TELC. Beck required it to charge rates about 50 percent below those of TELC. In the early 1920s the charters of TELC and of the street railway expired, making the municipal system Toronto’s sole power distributor. In 1921 the Toronto Transportation Commission replaced the street railway, and for a few years the hydro system and the transit system shared commissioners and a manager before separating in 1924.
Amalgamation and incorporation, 1998 to 1999
Metropolitan Toronto’s municipalities each had their own electric utility. A City of Toronto council report from October 1998 describes Toronto Hydro as an amalgamated utility of the former six utilities in the Metro area, with assets transferred to the City by provincial Bills 103 and 148.
The same report explains the next step. The Energy Competition Act (Bill 35) required municipal electric utilities to incorporate as business corporations within two years and to keep their monopoly distribution business in a separate subsidiary. The Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission would cease to exist and be replaced by a corporation with share capital, wholly owned by the City. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that Ontario Hydro itself ceased operating on April 1, 1999, replaced by successor companies including Ontario Power Generation and the Ontario Hydro Services Company, later Hydro One. Toronto Hydro Corporation was incorporated in 1999. The City’s own page names two subsidiaries: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited, the regulated distributor, and Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc., which handles non-regulated work such as street lighting. Sources name the 1998 statute differently, as the Energy Competition Act or as the Electricity Act, 1998.
Questions about bills and accounts
Many searches for “Toronto Hydro” concern logins, bills, and delivery charges. Rates and charges change often and are set under rules from the Ontario Energy Board, so this article prints none. The company’s own website and the Ontario Energy Board’s consumer pages are the places to check current charges and account options.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Toronto Hydro?
The City of Toronto is the sole shareholder of Toronto Hydro Corporation, according to the City’s page on its corporations.
When did Toronto Hydro begin?
Public power reached Toronto on February 24, 1911, and the official ceremony was held on May 2, 1911. The present corporation dates from 1999.
Is Toronto Hydro the same as Ontario Hydro or Hydro One?
No. Ontario Hydro was the provincial utility created in 1906 and wound up on April 1, 1999. Its successors include Ontario Power Generation and the Ontario Hydro Services Company, later Hydro One. Toronto Hydro was a municipal customer of the provincial utility and is now a municipally owned distributor.
Did Toronto Hydro replace a private company?
Yes, in effect. Toronto Electric Light Company was a private firm founded in 1883, and the municipal system overtook it in customers by the end of 1913. TELC’s charter expired in the early 1920s.
Related reading
- Toronto utilities: water, hydro, and city services
- History of public transit in Toronto
- Casa Loma and Sir Henry Pellatt
- Toronto’s economy and industries
- An overview of Toronto’s history
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- City of Toronto Archives, Turning On Toronto: A History of Toronto Hydro (online exhibit and its sub-pages)
- City of Toronto, report to council on Toronto Hydro and the Energy Competition Act, October 1998
- City of Toronto, page on Toronto Hydro Corporation (agencies and corporations)
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Ontario Hydro”
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Toronto Hydro: History of the City’s Electric Utility. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-hydro-history
MLA: “Toronto Hydro: History of the City’s Electric Utility.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-hydro-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Toronto Hydro: History of the City’s Electric Utility.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-hydro-history.
The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.