PowerStream Honoured Once Again as an Environmental Leader

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 27, 2012) - For the second time in three years, PowerStream, the municipally-owned electricity distribution company which serves customers residing or owning a business in several York Region and Simcoe County communities, has been honoured by industry peers for its environmental leadership and has earned the Electricity Distributors Association's (EDA) Environmental Excellence Award.

PowerStream received the award on Monday evening, at the organization's 100^th Anniversary Gala Dinner, in recognition of several environmental initiatives the company carried out in 2011. The award was given to PowerStream based on the company's demonstrated stewardship and innovation resulting in measurable environmental and economic benefits through implemented initiatives that can be adopted by other electricity distribution companies in Ontario. Highlights from PowerStream's 2011 environmental programs included:

LEED^® Gold Certification for Operations Building

• PowerStream's Markham Operations Centre was certified LEED^® Gold by the Canada Green Building Council. PowerStream is the only electricity distribution company in Ontario to have two LEED^® gold certified facilities

Electric vehicles

• Two 100 per cent electric vehicles were added to the PowerStream fleet in 2011
• This offers a zero-emission transportation option that is "fuelled" by the product PowerStream distributes

Energy Conservation

• PowerStream went beyond the Ontario Power Authority's prescribed programs that all electricity distribution companies are participating in by enhancing educational offerings for residential customers, continuing the Data Centre Incentive Plan and seeing notable success with the Retrofit program

Vanpool and Carpool Programs

• PowerStream added a fourth van to its vanpool program and in 2011 this program prevented 163 tonnes of CO₂ emissions from polluting the air.
• In 2011, participation in PowerStream's carpool program ranged from 60 to 100 people in an average of 42 carpools, saving over 17 tonnes of CO₂ emissions

Increased Waste Diversion

• In 2011, PowerStream achieved 77 per cent diversion, including the collection of non-standard items such as batteries, light bulbs, electronic waste and writing instruments

Solar Generation Business

• PowerStream Solar established a 210 kW solar generation lab on the roof of PowerStream's Barrie Operations Centre and completed 17 generation projects that are now delivering green power to the grid
• PowerStream also connected an additional 124 third-party solar generation systems

Environmental Awareness Week

• A week of environmental education and activities for staff is run by the volunteer Environmental Committee at all PowerStream facilities

"PowerStream's tradition of excellence in environmental leadership and innovation is largely due to the culture that has been established throughout our company," said Frank Scarpitti, Board Chair, PowerStream and Mayor of the Town of Markham. "We are honoured to be recognized once again for our efforts and accept this award on behalf of our customers and the communities we serve as well as our staff."

In addition to the EDA Environmental Excellence Award (2010, 2012), PowerStream has received a number of other recognitions for its commitment to environmental sustainability, including acknowledgement by the Ministry of the Environment as one of Ontario's Environmental Leaders (2010), the Smart Commute Employer of the Year Award for North Toronto, Vaughan (2009, 2011) and LEED^® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification of its Vaughan and Markham work locations.

About PowerStream

PowerStream is the second largest municipally-owned electricity distribution company in Ontario, providing service to more than 335,000 customers residing or owning a business in communities located immediately north of Toronto and in Central Ontario. The communities served include Alliston, Aurora, Barrie, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Markham, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan. PowerStream is jointly owned by the City of Barrie, the City of Vaughan and the Town of Markham.

About The Electricity Distributors Association (EDA)

The Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) is the voice of Ontario's local electricity distributors, the publicly and privately owned companies that safely and reliably deliver electricity to over 4.7 million Ontario homes, businesses and public institutions.