Hydro One’s Farm Rapid Response Team is ready

Sep 21, 2016

The team is dedicated to helping farmers tackle on-farm electrical issues

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

During the International Plowing Match on Tuesday, Ontario farmers received good news when it comes to battling on-farm electrical issues.

They can now call upon Hydro One’s Farm Rapid Response Team.

“Ontario understands that uncontrolled electricity is a concern for farmers across the province,” said Minister of Energy Glenn Thibeault during the IPM announcement. "This will ensure farmers have the right support and services in their community.

“I want to encourage any farmer who believes their farm might be affected by stray voltage to contact their distribution company and request an investigation.”

Hydro One announcement
From left: Glenn Thibeault, Minister of Energy; Mayo Schmidt, president and CEO, Hydro One; Brent Royce, director, OFA.
Photo: Glenn Ruegg

The team will assist farmers with a host of farm-related electricity issues including:

Managing and investigating all stray voltage.
Doing a full technical audit of all testing conducted.
Having testing specialists in zones across the province.
Conducting larger root cause investigations when necessary.
Running alternative testing/troubleshooting more complex issues.
Collecting data centrally for further study.

The response team is a joint effort between the OFA and Hydro One. The OFA would like to see other utility companies engage in similar partnerships.

“We see the Hydro One Farm Rapid Response Team as bringing a consistent documented process toward solving local uncontrolled electricity problems,” said Don McCabe, president, Ontario Federation of Agriculture. “OFA hopes this leads to further cooperation with other utilities and all levels of government in attaining a satisfactory solution.”

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