Hydro One employees contribute to tsunami relief

TORONTO, ONTARIO An employee-driven fundraising effort has collected over $148,000 for disaster relief efforts in South Asia following tsunami damage. The money has been given to the Canadian Red Cross - Asia Earthquake and Tsunamis Relief Fund.

Early in January the company launched a plan to match donations made by employees wishing to assist with the relief program, and the response has been significant. The company has about 4,000 regular employees.

"This undertaking is another excellent example of the high quality staff we have, and their commitment to helping those who are in desperate need of assistance," said Hydro One President and CEO Tom Parkinson. "This idea came from one of our employees and I was very proud to support it."

Hydro One has also been working with the provincial government to identify other ways it can help with relief efforts. The company has offered assistance for power system restoration in the form of technical experts and project managers.

Hydro One owns and operates Ontario's 28,400 kilometre high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 122,000 kilometre low-voltage distribution system that serves 1.2 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province.

Canada News Wire