Formed from the amalgamation of five Ontario utilities, Hydro Ottawa needs to integrate operations of all formerly separate companies. At the same time, Hydro Ottawa faces the competitive challenges of a restructured energy market in Ontario. With 500 employees, half a billion dollars (Canadian) in revenue and an equal value in assets, Hydro Ottawa currently services a quarter of a million customers in an area that now covers over 2,700 square kilometres.

"With the amalgamation of five companies, we inherited a mix of technologies and business philosophies. We needed to find a truly integrated solution that we could leverage throughout the combined business to achieve improvements in critical areas of performance, quality, service, and cost," said Sergio Dinis, Hydro Ottawa's chief information officer. "J.D. Edwards enterprise software provides the flexibility and scalability to help re-align, integrate and adopt business processes in all parts of the organization."

Hydro Ottawa is already running a smaller J.D. Edwards implementation at one of its divisions, the former Kanata Hydro. After a thorough evaluation process for the larger company, Hydro Ottawa decided to go with J.D. Edwards. "The restructured market demands that we're able to manage growth and react to changes quickly, and J.D. Edwards is the best fit with our technology and business needs. J.D. Edwards has a proven track record in the energy industry, which will help us to thrive in a competitive environment," said Dinis.

Speed of implementation was also a key factor in the decision. Hydro Ottawa will implement J.D. Edwards OneWorld(R) Financials and Workforce Management applications. The system is expected to be up and running this fall. Starting in early 2003, Hydro Ottawa will also use J.D. Edwards Enterprise Asset Management to track performance, reduce maintenance expenses, and improve return on investment.

"Hydro Ottawa told us they needed a solution to quickly integrate diverse technologies and new business processes. They also needed a platform that accommodates future growth, and helps the company to constantly improve business performance while servicing more customers more efficiently," said Bob Pozzobon, vice president and general manager, J.D. Edwards Canada Ltd. "J.D. Edwards strives to be a long-term business partner by providing Hydro Ottawa with the collaborative enterprise solution necessary to make their business stronger in a deregulated energy market."

J.D. Edwards, together with its partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be providing implementation and training support to Hydro Ottawa. Two hundred employees at Hydro Ottawa will use the new system. Future plans for Hydro Ottawa include applications for the mobile workforce, which will allow work orders to be transmitted and processed from remote locations.

Hydro Ottawa Limited is the second largest local electricity distribution company in the province of Ontario, running 5,000 km of wire to service roughly 90 percent of the area's population.

About Hydro Ottawa