Town hall meetings on Toronto Hydro's response to ice storm

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  February 27, 2014

Town hall meetings on Toronto Hydro's response to ice storm

The Independent Review Panel responsible for assessing Toronto Hydro's response to the December 2013 ice storm will hold three concurrent town hall meetings on Thursday, March 6. Toronto residents and business owners will have an opportunity to comment on Toronto Hydro’s preparation for and response to the ice storm.

The City of Toronto is co-ordinating the meetings, which will take place from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the council chambers at the following locations:

- North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge St.

- Etobicoke Civic Centre, 399 The West Mall

- Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr.

Panel members will moderate each meeting. Torontonians may address the panel for three minutes each. Written comments will also be accepted. The panel has asked that Toronto Hydro representatives not be present at the meetings in order that Torontonians may speak freely. The panel will consider the information gathered in these meetings as it develops its findings and recommendations, to be published in a final report.

Customers and residents unable to attend one of these meetings can provide feedback to Davies Consulting LLC by email at torontoicestorm@daviescon.com.

Davies Consulting, a leading energy consultancy, is conducting the review of Toronto Hydro’s response to the ice storm under the direction of the Independent Review Panel.

About the Independent Review Panel: This expert panel is composed of chair David McFadden, partner at Gowlings law firm; Sean Conway, visiting fellow at Ryerson University's Centre for Urban Energy; Carlos Torres, vice-president of emergency management at Consolidated Edison of New York; and Joe Pennachetti, Toronto City Manager. The panel is responsible for overseeing the review of Toronto Hydro's performance during the December 2013 ice storm that affected more than 300,000 customers in the Greater Toronto Area.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

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Media contact: Jackie DeSouza, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5277, jdesouz@toronto.ca