Ottawa is no longer just a government town: It is a city in the midst of a physical and economic redesign. From rising residential skylines to the emergence of a world-class defence and aerospace hub, Ottawa’s growth is rapid and undeniable.
But at the centre of this advancement lies a critical question: How are we going to power it all?
OBJ360 sat down with Bryce Conrad, president and CEO of Hydro Ottawa Group, to discuss the company’s role in facilitating this growth and its unique position ushering in a new chapter for Ottawa, Casselman, and Eastern Ontario.
A new identity for a modern era
OBJ360: Hydro Ottawa recently rebranded to “Hydro Ottawa Group.” What does this shift signify for the company’s identity and the future of the city?
Bryce Conrad: The rebrand signifies our evolution into a diversified, future-powered energy and technology leader. It’s a move away from being viewed as just a utility to being recognized as a strategic partner that does far more than just keep the lights on.
Our ecosystem is anchored by four subsidiaries: Hydro Ottawa Ltd. (distribution), Portage Power (generation), Envari (energy solutions) and hiboo networks (high-speed fibre). By operating as one cohesive group, we can lead the energy transition and provide the critical infrastructure needed to power expanding businesses and communities in our service territory. We aren’t just reacting to growth; we are catalyzing it.
Scaling infrastructure for a growing city
OBJ360: With massive housing and commercial expansion in the region, how are you addressing grid reliability while managing this unprecedented demand?
BC: Ottawa has seen substantial growth in recent years, and that trend, if I can call it that, is only going to continue. On the distribution side, we are committing to a historic level of investment. Previously, we might have built one substation every five years; we are now on pace to energize one per year, on average, for the next five years. As part of our sustainability commitment, many of our new developments, such as the Piperville transformer station, are being built as low-carbon substations. So not only are we expanding our grid’s capacity to meet the rising demand, but we’re doing so in a way that has an extremely low impact on the environment.
However, a reliable grid also requires a steady, clean supply. That’s where Portage Power comes in. They are aggressively expanding our generation portfolio, not just through our legacy hydroelectric assets, but by moving into large-scale solar and battery energy storage. This ensures that as the region grows, we have the renewable baseload and storage capacity to keep the system stable during peak times.
Finally, the most reliable megawatt is the one you never have to use. Our energy solutions business, Envari, has become a critical strategic partner for the city’s largest energy users. Through the Ottawa Retrofit Accelerator (ORA) program, Envari is working with major commercial and institutional partners across our territory, helping them maximize energy efficiency and map out deep retrofits. We provide an integrated energy approach: We build the grid, generate clean power, and help our customers use that power as efficiently as possible.
Powering high-growth sectors: defence and aerospace
OBJ360: Ottawa is emerging as a leader in Canadian defence. How is Hydro Ottawa prioritizing grid modernization for these high-tech sectors?
BC: As a military brat who grew up on Canadian military bases across Canada and Europe, I’m thrilled to work at a company that is going to power this new defence renaissance. At the end of the day, reliable, scalable power is one of Ottawa’s best economic development tools, and we need to build a grid that’s capable of delivering it to customers. And for high-tech sectors like aerospace and defence, that means modernizing the grid to improve both physical and digital resilience. This includes upgrading cybersecurity and implementing smart sensors and automatic switches, essentially fail-safes that isolate faults before they impact a wider area.
We are putting infrastructure where the growth is. In Ottawa’s west end, our new transformer substation on Old Second Line is a necessity. It will serve as the backbone for the area, providing the redundancy required by major global defence players and the Canadian Armed Forces themselves. By accelerating infrastructure and developing distributed energy resources closer to the consumer, we give Ottawa a clear competitive advantage, one that we hope will better support our defence and high-tech sectors and grow our local economy.
The power of convergence
OBJ360: You’ve expanded into large-scale solar and telecommunications. Why is this multi-sector approach valuable to Hydro Ottawa?
BC: We’ve evolved into a one-stop shop for the critical resources modern cities need to function: clean energy, smart efficiency, and high-speed connectivity.
From a generation perspective, the strategic importance of our expansion into large-scale solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems cannot be overstated. In Ontario, one of the main drivers for this expansion comes from the Independent Electricity System Operator’s procurement of new renewable generation, as it has identified an urgent need for clean energy resources to support the province’s continued growth.
Similarly, we are seeing unprecedented load growth across North America, driven by rapid electrification and the massive power requirements of the data centres that are fuelling the AI revolution. By leveraging our decades of renewable experience to build out solar and the storage systems required to stabilize that power, Portage Power is ensuring we can meet this demand sustainably while driving long-term value for the communities we serve. Our projects are designed to enhance grid reliability by storing energy for when it’s needed most, all while accelerating the transition to clean, zero-emission power. Beyond the environmental impact, this transition stimulates the broader economy by creating green jobs and stabilizing long-term energy costs.
But the real magic happens when our business lines work together to solve local challenges. One of my favourite examples is our ongoing partnership with Ottawa Community Housing (OCH). This wasn’t just a utility transaction; it was a holistic infrastructure solution. Envari conducted carbon pathway studies for 38 of OCH’s high-rise buildings to maximize energy efficiency, while hiboo networks launched the CommuniFi project to provide essential high-speed fibre to residents. By bringing our group of companies together, we are helping our partners reach ambitious climate goals and actively closing the digital divide in our city.
The 2030 vision
OBJ360: Looking ahead to 2030, how will the city be different because of your work today?
BC: By 2030, Ottawa will be a future-ready, sustainable smart city. Our ultimate vision is to enable local decarbonization and be the partner of choice for organizations navigating their own energy transitions.
I’m incredibly proud of our team and the work they do. We have the expertise to ensure that as Ottawa’s economy expands, our infrastructure remains a reliable, sustainable driver of change. We are ensuring the region is prepared for the demands of an increasingly digital and electrified world.
This article first appeared in the 2026 City Building in the April Magazine. That publication is available in it’s digital format below: