As Ontario braces for rising electricity demand, local utilities are stepping up and earning public confidence. A new EDA-commissioned poll of 2,000 Ontarians shows 82 per cent are satisfied with their local service, and a strong majority say investing in local grids is critical to keeping power reliable and safe for the future.
The province-wide survey, conducted by Campaign Research, was deployed to better understand public sentiment toward local electricity utilities, industry priorities, and broader energy issues where they play a key role. Findings from this research complement our 2024 Solving Grid-Lock: Our Vision for a Customer-Centric Energy Transition paper. We will use findings to communicate where the public is aligned with the EDA and its members as we work together to advance the government's energy agenda.
The second significant finding is around trust in government services. Local electricity utilities follow closely behind fire, waste collection, and water. However, Ontarians showed trust in electricity utilities more than police, natural gas, local transit agencies, and telecommunication companies.
When rated against electricity system entities only, local electricity utilities emerged as the most trusted – which we are proud to say is an improvement of 17 percentage points from our similar 2022 study where generators held the top spot.
When it comes to performance of utilities, Ontarians gave strong performance ratings for service safety, reliability, billing accuracy, payment option flexibility, and responsiveness during outages. Notably, compared to 2022, all performance metrics either increased or remained the same. When thinking about electricity overall, Ontarians identified 'cost', 'reliability,’ ‘safety’ as their top electricity system priorities.
A significant majority of Ontarians expressed concern about the province’s ability to produce enough electricity to meet expected demand. A resounding 85% said it was very or somewhat important to maintain and invest in local electricity distribution grids to meet current and future demand. Another important finding related to modernizing our electricity grid found 62 per cent of Ontarians believed that the costs of upgrading the electricity grid should be shared between ratepayers and taxpayers).
Finally, they were asked who should lead public consultations related to building critical electricity infrastructure. A large number of Ontarians supported a combination of local electricity utilities, municipalities, and electricity regulators.
This research reinforces the need for critical conversations on accessing the capital and funding mechanisms to address the $106-120 billion investments in distribution infrastructure required to support the grid forecasted in Solving Grid-Lock and would allow LDCs to deliver on government priorities.
To learn more about the EDA’s research, please contact Derek Nardone, Director, Corporate, Government & Public Affairs.