PowerStream Receives EDA's Innovation Excellence Award

Utility Recognized for Its Forward-Thinking, Customer-Focused Advantage Power Pricing Program

Marketwired.com
March 1, 2016

PowerStream was acknowledged for innovative achievement at the Electricity Distributors Association's (EDA) annual Awards Gala held Monday night at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, receiving the EDA Innovation Excellence Award in recognition of the company's successful "Advantage Power Pricing (APP)" pilot program.

In partnership with Energate Inc. and funding from the Ministry of Energy, PowerStream's Advantage Power Pricing (APP) pilot was launched in May 2015 as a six-month, risk-free, technology-enabled dynamic pricing program designed to provide residential customers with significant savings. APP offers customers an ultimate low price of 4.9¢/kWh of electricity for off-peak periods and a variable price during the on-peak period (weekdays, 3 p.m. - 9 p.m.), while equipping them with the tools required to better manage their energy use. The program gave participants the opportunity to save up to $300 a year by paying a very low price for electricity during 82% of the week.

PowerStream introduced a second phase of the pilot on November 1, 2015 and will launch the third phase on May 1, 2016 with the hope of eventually offering the pricing plan to all of its customers. Each of these phases received funding from the Independent Electricity System Operator.

The EDA's Innovation Excellence Award recognized PowerStream's APP as a unique business model that not only empowers customers to better manage their utility bills, but one that also adds new value to multiple areas of the industry, including customer satisfaction and engagement, conservation and demand management, energy storage, and energy grid efficiency.

QUOTES

• "We are thrilled to have received this industry honour from the EDA," said Maurizio Bevilacqua, PowerStream Board Chair and Mayor of the City of Vaughan. "Earning the Innovation Excellence Award is a tribute to our ongoing commitment to being a forward-thinking, solutions-driven industry leader."
• "Innovative thinking is embedded in our corporate culture," said Brian Bentz, President and CEO of PowerStream. "Pioneering a pricing plan that helps customers save on electricity while improving the efficiency of our energy grid is an example of our unique approach to business development in an industry that is experiencing tremendous change."

BACKGROUND

PowerStream has received awards on several occasions from the EDA, including the Environmental Excellence Award (2013, 2011, 2009), Communication/Public Relations Excellence Award (2012) and the LDC Performance Excellence Award (2010).

ABOUT POWERSTREAM

PowerStream is a community-owned energy company that provides power and related services to more than 375,000 customers residing or owning a business in communities located immediately north of Toronto and in Central Ontario. It is jointly owned by the Cities of Barrie, Markham and Vaughan.