What Hydro One Networks actually does for Cat Lake (and why your bill says Hydro One)
Ontario's electricity market normally splits cleanly between mainland distributors connected to the IESO-controlled grid and a small handful of isolated communities that produce their own power on site. Cat Lake First Nation, on the shores of Cat Lake about 180 km north of Sioux Lookout, is one of those isolated communities. The wires, transformers and meters in the community belong to Hydro One Networks Inc. under an OEB-issued interim distribution licence (ED-2006-0181) that was first granted in 2006 and has been renewed every few years since.
The generation side, by contrast, is owned by Cat Lake Power Generation Inc. and runs on diesel engines. Hydro One Networks does not own the generators but it is the company that bills you for the electricity, restores power after an outage and manages new connections. Because Cat Lake is administered through the mainland Hydro One Networks licence (not through the separate Hydro One Remote Communities Inc. subsidiary, which covers 21 other isolated communities), the OEB rate schedule and customer-service phone tree are the same as for any other Hydro One Networks customer in Ontario.
- Owns the in-community wires, transformers and meters
- Operates the 24/7 outage line and dispatches crews
- Sends the monthly bill at the OEB rate
- Interim distribution licence ED-2006-0181, renewed since 2006
- Owns and operates the diesel generators on site
- Not connected to the IESO-controlled provincial grid
- True cost subsidised through the OEB's RRRP charge
- Generation does not appear separately on your bill
It is a common confusion. Hydro One has a separate subsidiary, Hydro One Remote Communities Inc., that covers 21 other isolated communities in the Far North. Cat Lake was assigned to Hydro One Networks in 2006 because of how its distribution assets were transferred at the time. Practically it makes little difference for residents (same phone numbers, same OEB framework), but the rate schedule on file at the OEB is the Hydro One Networks one.
Where Hydro One Networks delivers power for Cat Lake
In plain words: the licensed service area is the Cat Lake First Nation reserve, an isolated fly-in community on the shores of Cat Lake in northwestern Ontario. There are no road connections to the south for most of the year and no transmission lines to the IESO grid. Every customer inside the community boundary is served by Hydro One Networks under the interim distribution licence; there is no overlap with any other LDC.
- •Cat Lake First Nation reserve and its residential, school and band-office services
- •Local stores, nursing station and community infrastructure inside the reserve
- •Connection at the diesel generating station owned by Cat Lake Power Generation Inc.
- •Other isolated First Nations such as Pikangikum, Sandy Lake, Bearskin Lake → Hydro One Remote Communities
- •Sioux Lookout, Dryden and Red Lake → Hydro One Networks mainland licence
- •Thunder Bay → Synergy North
Not sure which one applies to your address? Check your most recent electricity bill: the distributor's name and OEB licence number are printed at the top of the first page.
How Hydro One's charges appear on your Cat Lake bill
An Ontario electricity bill is broken into a handful of distinct line items, all of which appear on the same Hydro One Networks invoice for Cat Lake. The bill looks the same as any other Hydro One customer's, even though the underlying generation in the community is diesel rather than grid power.
The per-kWh rate set by the OEB twice a year. Cat Lake customers are billed at the Hydro One Networks residential rate; the actual cost of diesel generation is partially subsidised by the OEB's Rural or Remote Rate Protection (RRRP) charge that every Ontario bill pays into.
The province-wide cross-subsidy that flattens the cost gap between dense urban distribution (e.g. Toronto Hydro) and isolated diesel grids like Cat Lake. Not a line on YOUR bill: it shows up on every other Ontario customer's bill instead.
The cost of moving electricity from the local diesel plant through Hydro One's wires to your meter. Includes a fixed monthly service charge plus a per-kWh distribution rate set by the OEB.
Small line covering OEB programs and a few other system-wide charges. Set by the OEB and applied uniformly across Ontario LDCs.
A provincial credit that reduces the pre-tax subtotal by a percentage set by the government (currently around 13 %). Applied automatically to eligible residential, farm and small-business accounts.
The 13 % federal-provincial sales tax applied to the post-rebate subtotal. Appears at the bottom of the bill.
Hydro One Networks files its rates with the OEB under the incentive rate-setting framework (most recently EB-2023-0030 for 2024 rates and beyond). Rates are public and can be examined line by line by any customer or intervenor. Because Cat Lake is administered under this same Hydro One Networks licence, the rate schedule is identical to what other Hydro One Networks customers see in the rest of the province; the OEB then uses RRRP to socialise the diesel cost premium across all Ontario ratepayers.
A practical implication: signing with a licensed retailer would change only the commodity portion of your bill. The delivery, regulatory and HST lines (which are most of the bill in an isolated community) would stay the same. In practice retail offers are extremely rare in Far North communities.
Peak (4-7pm), mid-peak, off-peak. Available to Hydro One residential customers; uptake in isolated communities is limited.
A low block for the first kWh per month, a higher block above. The most common default choice in remote and rural areas.
Very cheap 11pm-7am, much more expensive 4-9pm. Optional, mostly useful for households that have heavy overnight loads.
Contact details: Hydro One's province-wide phone tree
Cat Lake customers reach Hydro One Networks through its province-wide customer system. The 24/7 emergency line handles outages, downed wires and any safety emergencies; the customer service line handles billing, moves, account changes and new connections.
Outages, downed wires, safety emergencies. For a downed live wire, call 911 first.
Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Hydro One customer service)
483 Bay Street, South Tower
7th Floor, Toronto, ON M5G 2P5
Bills, usage, payments and outage history online at hydroone.com
iOS & Android, with outage map and push notifications
For non-urgent questions you can also use Hydro One's online tools: the live outage map, the outage hub or the My Account portal at https://www.hydroone.com. The local band office in Cat Lake can also help relay outage information when phone or internet service is intermittent.
Report a power outage in Cat Lake
If your power is out, call 1-800-434-1235, Hydro One's 24/7 line. You can also report and track outages on the Hydro One outage map. Because Cat Lake is an isolated community, restoration depends on whether the problem is in the local distribution wires (fixed in minutes to hours by the on-site crew) or at the diesel generating station (which may take longer if a generator needs to be returned to service).
Call 1-800-434-1235 or use the Hydro One outage map. Have your address and account number ready.
Hydro One coordinates with the on-site crew in Cat Lake and Cat Lake Power Generation Inc. to locate the fault and decide who responds.
Distribution faults (broken pole, blown transformer): minutes to hours. Generation faults at the diesel plant: longer, as backup units may need to be started.
Power is verified at the smart meter. Reset clocks, check freezer contents, and report any damage right away via Hydro One's claims form.
Reliability context for Cat Lake
Hydro One Networks reports reliability to the OEB on a province-wide basis; Cat Lake performance is rolled into the Hydro One Networks scorecard rather than reported separately. In any isolated community, the dominant reliability risks are weather (winter storms, ice loading on poles), wildlife and the availability of the local diesel generators. Planned outages for diesel maintenance or fuel delivery are normally posted at least 48 hours in advance via the band office and on the Hydro One outage hub.
If you depend on medical equipment, register with Hydro One's medical-needs program so you receive priority notification of planned work.
New connection or service upgrade in Cat Lake
For a new build, a service upgrade or any work that requires changes to the physical wires or meter inside Cat Lake, you deal with Hydro One Networks. Start at https://www.hydroone.com or call 1-888-664-9376. In a fly-in community, lead times depend heavily on materials shipping (winter road, barge or air freight) and on coordination with Cat Lake Power Generation Inc. for any additional load on the diesel plant.
The lot description and any band council approvals required for the build inside the reserve.
A sketch showing where you want the meter, service entrance, and run-back to the nearest pole or pad.
The amperage (100 A, 200 A…) and voltage you need, signed off by your Master Electrician.
An Electrical Safety Authority permit and ESA sign-off once the in-house wiring is done. Hydro One cannot energise until ESA clears it.
Most isolated communities depend on a winter road or barge shipping window; complex projects line up with that calendar.
Fixed component + per-metre charge above the contribution threshold defined in Hydro One's Conditions of Service.
Once the wires are in, your account opens automatically at Hydro One Networks' Standard Supply Service rate. You can change between Time-of-Use, Tiered and ULO at any time by calling Hydro One's customer service line.
Moving home, transferring or closing a service
In Cat Lake, the move-in / move-out conversation starts with Hydro One Networks directly. Because Hydro One is the default supplier, it closes the old billing account, sets up the new one and triggers the final meter read. Most move requests need at least 1 to 2 business days of notice; allow more around the winter holiday window.
Call 1-888-664-9376 or use My Account online. Give them the move date and your new address.
1 to 2 business days minimum; allow more around the holiday season. Same-day service is rare.
Hydro One records the final reading on the move-out date. In isolated communities this may require an on-site visit if the meter is not yet on the smart-meter network.
Hydro One issues a closing bill for the period up to the move-out date. The new address bill starts under a fresh account.
Administrative transfer only. No physical work, no service interruption. Your RPP structure carries over by default; ask Hydro One if you want to change it at the new address.
Opening a fresh account is required at the new LDC. Common destinations from Cat Lake include other isolated communities served by Hydro One Remote Communities or mainland Hydro One Networks territory in northwestern Ontario.
Meters, meter reading and accuracy
Hydro One Networks owns the meter at your address. In Cat Lake and other isolated communities, the smart-meter rollout has lagged behind the rest of the province: many homes still have legacy electromechanical meters that require an on-site read, although Hydro One has been progressively upgrading them. The meter is the basis for both the consumption side of your bill and the choice between TOU, Tiered or Ultra-Low Overnight RPP structures.
Newer homes and recent upgrades use smart meters with automatic hourly reads. No estimated bills where they are installed.
Older accounts may have legacy meters with on-site reads. Bills can include estimated charges between reads.
Hydro One pulls the meter and tests it on a calibrated bench against Measurement Canada's tolerance.
If the meter reads outside Measurement Canada's tolerance (typically ±2 %), the test is free and you get a billing adjustment back to the date the fault is presumed to have started. If the meter passes, the test fee is charged to you at the OEB-approved tariff rate.
What do you need to do with Hydro One Networks (Cat Lake)?
Pick an action. The tool shows the right phone, the right link, and what to expect. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Note: under AUC Rule 002, Alberta distributors are not required to pay automatic compensation for outages. Damage claims are evaluated case-by-case on negligence.
Compensation and damage claims: the honest version
Ontario has no automatic, statutory compensation scheme for individual customers affected by a power outage. Unlike the UK's Ofgem Guaranteed Standards, the OEB's role is to require Hydro One to report its reliability performance every year in its public scorecard. Penalties for under-performance flow from the regulator to the distributor; they do not arrive in your mailbox as a credit.
If your fridge or freezer contents spoiled, an appliance was damaged by a voltage surge, or you incurred a clear loss during an outage, you can file a damage claim with Hydro One. The claim is evaluated on negligence.
- +Equipment failure (transformer, pole, network switch)
- +Crew error during work on the local network
- +Switching incident causing voltage spike
- +Unplanned, distributor-caused service interruption
- ×Severe weather (lightning, wind, ice storms)
- ×Wildlife contact on lines
- ×Diesel generator outages handled by Cat Lake Power Generation Inc.
- ×Planned outages notified in advance
Most home insurance policies cover food spoilage and surge damage at a low excess. If your loss is meaningful, the insurance route is usually faster than a denied utility claim. Keep dated receipts and photos either way; they are the only basis on which any claim can be evaluated.
Regulator and complaint escalation
If you can't resolve something directly with Hydro One, there's a clear escalation ladder in Ontario. The Ontario Energy Board sits at the top as both the economic regulator and the body that handles consumer complaints; the Electrical Safety Authority covers physical-safety issues.
Sets the Regulated Price Plan, approves Hydro One's distribution tariff, oversees the Cat Lake interim distribution licence (ED-2006-0181) and reviews service-quality reporting (scorecards). Also runs the OEB Consumer Protection Office for individual disputes.
Administers Ontario Regulation 22/04, audits Hydro One's distribution-asset safety practices and tracks the Serious Electrical Incident Index. Issues electrical permits for in-house wiring.
Most issues resolve here. Phone 1-888-664-9376 (Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) or use the My Account portal.
If the front line can't fix it, request a written decision in writing. This creates the paper trail needed for the next step.
The OEB investigates complaints involving Ontario LDCs, retailers and unit sub-meter providers. The service is free.
Last resort. For tariff or licence-renewal issues you can intervene as a registered intervenor. For damage claims that are denied, civil court is the final route.