PowerNews: Special Edition

A message from OPG’s President and CEO

I am pleased to share this special issue of PowerNews, which features profiles of our frontline employees helping keep the lights on during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, an exciting milestone for the Darlington Refurbishment project, and efforts to support frontline health care workers and the province’s food vulnerable.

To date, we have donated more than one million surgical masks, 75,000 N95 masks and 17,500 Tyvek protective suits through the Ministry of Health to help address the shortage of important personal protective equipment. We also secured Health Canada approval on our 3D-printed protective face shields, which we are producing in partnership with Ontario Tech. And, OPG continues to supply Cobalt-60, an important medical isotope formed in our nuclear reactors that is used to sterilize single-use medical devices like syringes and gloves.

We also partnered with three remarkable groups working to support food vulnerable residents. This includes $500,000 to Feed Ontario to help launch their province-wide emergency food box program; $250,000 to the Regional Food Distribution Association of Northwestern Ontario to distribute emergency food support to First Nations; and $150,000 to Feed the Need to buy and distribute food to organizations across Durham Region.

Outside of these efforts, OPG has struck a “Solutions Team” to continue to find new ways to protect our workers and further support Ontario’s health care community. Like many companies inspired by the Government’s “Ontario Together” call to action, our talented and creative employees have brainstormed some very innovative ideas, which this team is now evaluating and working to quickly implement. These ideas include using thermal imaging cameras to monitor temperatures of staff at our stations, exploring ultraviolet light rays as a method for sanitization, and hand-sewing washable and reusable medical-grade cloth masks to protect frontline workers.

As we look to the coming months, there is still much uncertainty ahead of us. It is a situation that can weigh heavily on our minds, and for this reason it is vitally important that we keep on top of our mental health. OPG has signed on to support WellCan, a free collection of digital mental health resources to help Canadians during COVID-19. Please help us share this vital information hub located at WellCan.ca.

Amid this challenging time, I am confident we at OPG will continue to do our very best to help support Ontario by providing essential power reliably and safely and by helping our neighbours in need across the province. I am also confident that through our resolve and resilience as Ontarians, we will get through this and together we will all #PowerOn.

Thank you and be well.

Ken Hartwick
President and CEO