Topic: How To Invest

Q: I am interested in TSI’s take on Hydro One. Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: Hydro One Ltd., $44.93, symbol H on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 599.4 million; Market cap: $27.1 billion; www.hydroone.com), is Ontario’s largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. Through its wholly owned Hydro One Inc., the company operates almost all of Ontario’s electricity transmission network. That translates into 30,000 kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines and about 125,000 kilometres of primary low-voltage distribution lines. Hydro One delivers electricity to about 1.5 million residential and commercial clients across the province. Those customers include large industrial companies and municipal utilities. The company has three segments: Transmission accounted for 28.2% of total revenue in 2023; Distribution contributed 71.2%; and Others segment made up just 0.6%. The Transmission segment accounts for about 92% of Ontario’s transmission capacity. In 2023, the segment transmitted 137.1 million megawatt-hours to customers. This business is rate-regulated. That means the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), a regulatory body, sets the prices Hydro can charge. The Distribution business is the largest in Ontario. It, too, is rate-regulated. It earns revenue…