Bevilacqua named chair of PowerStream board

Vaughan Weekly
February 5, 2014

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua has been named chair of the PowerStream board of directors.

PowerStream is a community-owned energy company providing power and related services to more than 365,000 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

Bevilacqua assumes his new role after serving three years as vice chair of the board, which is comprised of representation from the company’s three municipal shareholders - Barrie, Markham and Vaughan. City of Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti will move into the vice chair position after serving as chair over the past three years.

Other member on PowerStream’s board of directors include Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman; Barrie Councillor Lynn Strachan; Vaughan Regional Councillors Michael Di Biase, Gino Rosati and Deb Schulte; Vaughan Councillors Tony Carella and Alan Shefman; Markham Regional Councillor Jim Jones; Markham Councillor Alex Chiu as well as Ron Stevens and Dan Horchik.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be serving as the board chair of a company which is recognized as being one of the leaders in the energy industry,” said Bevilacqua.  “I am looking forward to continuing to work  with the other members on the board to provide the necessary governance to further assist PowerStream in its mission to deliver reliable power and related services to our customers and the communities we serve.”

“It has been a pleasure to work with Mayor Scarpitti over the past three years in his role as chair,” explained PowerStream President and CEO Brian Bentz.  “I am certain that Mayor Bevilacqua’s leadership will prove to be equally rewarding for the company and the customers we serve.”

PowerStream was created on June 1, 2004 following the merger of three York Region-based utilities - Hydro Vaughan, Markham Hydro and Richmond Hill Hydro. Following the purchase of Aurora Hydro Connections in 2005, a merger with Barrie Hydro in 2009 and the formation of a strategic partnership with the Town of Collingwood in the ownership of its utility, PowerStream is now the second largest municipally-owned electricity distribution company in Ontario. In addition to electricity distribution, PowerStream also operates a renewable generation business under the name ‘PowerStream Solar’ and recently launched an affiliate company ‘PowerStream Energy Services Inc.