Toronto Hydro's control room is winter-ready as the city marks 12 years since historic ice storm

TORONTO, Dec. 19, 2025 /CNW/ - Twelve years ago, Torontonians proved just how resilient we can be when the city endured its most historic ice storm with more than 40 hours of freezing rain, 30+ millimetres of ice, 500 wires down and 416,000 customers left without power. That event underscored the importance of a strong, reliable grid. Today, resilience remains top of mind as Toronto Hydro continues to invest in infrastructure and innovation to keep Canada's largest city powered through extreme weather and beyond.

At the centre of that resilience? A room that never sleeps. Step inside our state-of-the-art control room — a 27,000-square-foot nerve centre buzzing with more than 200 glowing monitors, 36 ringing phones and a team of experts working 24/7 to keep Toronto's lights on.

How do we do it?

• Eyes on Toronto, every second: Every day, our control room operators monitor thousands of devices that tell us how the grid is doing, helping us prevent outages
• Advanced technology for faster fixes: Our systems give us real-time data, helping us dispatch crews to where they're needed more quickly, so we can restore power faster
• Always here for you: No matter the hour, day or season, our control room team works 24/7 to keep Toronto's homes, businesses, and streets powered and safe even while you're gathered around the table for holiday meals or fast asleep waiting for Santa

Want to see what it takes to keep the city powered during severe weather? Take a behind-the-scenes look inside the control room and hear from experts who power the city through winter storms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt032W0eC54.

Longer outages can happen during extreme conditions. Make sure your contact information with Toronto Hydro is up to date and sign up for email or text outage notifications at torontohydro.com/outagehub for timely updates and restoration estimates.

QUOTE
"Our Control Room is where it all happens. Working in close coordination with field crews, it's the heartbeat of our operations and plays a critical role in keeping Toronto moving. We know winter can bring challenges, but our team is ready to respond quickly and safely to any outage."

-          Dan Smart, Vice President, Distribution Operations, Toronto Hydro

QUICK FACTS

• Toronto Hydro's outage map is updated every 10 minutes, 24/7
• Inside the control room, two 12-hour shifts per day keep the city powered around the clock
• The control room has an expert team of Power System Controllers, Dispatchers and Shift Managers
• Power System Controllers oversee 1,000+ circuits and 2,000+ remotely operable devices every day

ABOUT TORONTO HYDRO

Toronto Hydro powers Canada's largest city through delivering electricity and related energy solutions to more than 3 million people and businesses, safely, reliably and sustainably. With the dedication of our skilled employees and partners, we're electrifying communities today and building a brighter tomorrow by investing in a modern, capable and resilient distribution grid and delivering value to our customers and sole shareholder, the City of Toronto. For more information, visit torontohydro.com, or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

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LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/toronto-hydro

SOURCE Toronto Hydro Corporation