A wet 2017 is paying dividends for the City of Orillia.
The Orillia Power Corporation presented an update to council this week during its shareholder meeting (the city is the sole shareholder), announcing its regular annual dividend of $1.1 million to the city, but that wasn’t all.
Orillia Power also revealed it would be providing a special dividend — an additional $250,000.
“It was our best net income that we’ve had for the Orillia Power Corporation,” said its interim president and CEO, Grant Hipgrave.
While the success came from all areas of Orillia Power's operations, it owns three water-power generation stations, and the water was flowing last year. It was refreshing after a below-average 2016, said Hipgrave.
Net earnings were almost $5 million in 2017. In 2016, it was about $2.7 million.
It’s not the first time the local utility has has provided a special dividend to the city. It takes into consideration its operating and capital costs, as well as the amount of generation over the year, when it determines how much the dividends will be worth.
While water power is the main money maker, Orillia is also benefiting from Orillia Power’s solar projects. It has four solar installations in the city — at Orillia Power, the Barnfield Point Recreation Centre, Rotary Place and Nordia — but 2017 was the first full year its three solar projects in Cobourg were online, too.
“They certainly add to the bigger picture,” Hipgrave said.
Investing in the Cobourg operations “was a strategic thing because it was a good growth opportunity for us,” he said.
Still, water power is king, as Orillia Power has 15.5 megawatts of water-power capacity, while the solar capacity is 2.5 MW.
