In 2025, Oshawa Power customers experienced 63% less downtime than the Ontario average.
Oshawa Power is committed to delivering safe and reliable electricity to the homes and neighbourhoods we serve. In 2025, our electricity system continued to perform at a very high level, helping customers stay connected, comfortable, and supported in their daily lives.
Reliable power plays an important role in everyday activities. It keeps homes and businesses running, supports remote work and learning, and allows essential services across the city to operate without interruption. Oshawa Power is proud to continue providing a level of reliability that customers can depend on.
2025 Reliability Performance
Reliability Score: 99.99%
In 2025, we achieved a reliability score of 99.99 percent. This means electricity was available to customers nearly uninterrupted throughout the whole year. This level of performance continues to exceed provincial averages and reflects the ongoing investment in maintaining a strong and reliable electricity system.
Average Number of Outages: 0.62
Customers experienced an average of 0.62 outages in 2025. In simple terms, this means that most customers had fewer than one outage during the year, and approximately 40% experienced none at all. Based on this performance, the average Oshawa Power customer can reasonably expect to experience just one outage every 19 months. This result demonstrates the effectiveness of proactive system maintenance and planning.
Average Yearly Downtime: 35 Minutes
The average customer experienced a total of 35 minutes without power in 2025. This measure includes all outages over the year. Keeping outage duration low helps reduce the impact on daily activities in the home and across the community.
Oshawa Power customers experience much less downtime than the Ontario average:
| Year | Oshawa Power | Ontario Avg. |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 35 | – |
| 2024 | 19 | 95 |
| 2023 | 48 | 110 |
| 2022 | 88 | 160 |
| 2021 | 34 | 151 |
| 2020 | 88 | 163 |
| 2019 | 59 | 158 |
| 2018 | 80 | 155 |
| 2017 | 44 | 171 |
| 2016 | 157 | 167 |
| 2015 | 73 | 167 |
Outage Response Time: 29 Minutes
When outages occurred, Oshawa Power crews responded quickly. In 2025, the average response time was 29 minutes, a 17% decrease from 2024.
Transitioning from traditional paper maps to real-time, automated digital mapping has improved our response efficiency. This improvement allows our crews to more accurately pinpoint faults, reducing the need for manual patrolling during outage response.
Total Number of Unplanned Outages: 258
A total of 258 outages were recorded across our grid in 2025. This includes outages caused by weather, equipment issues, wildlife, and outside interference. Many of these outages were localized and affected a small number of customers.
Momentary Outages: 133
There were 133 momentary outages in 2025. These outages typically last only a few seconds and are often the result of system protection equipment operating as designed. Momentary outages help prevent more serious or longer lasting interruptions by automatically restoring power to most customers while isolating the smallest possible, directly affected area until full restoration can be completed.
What This Means for You
Better reliability means fewer interruptions and shorter outages when they do occur. For customers, this means fewer disruptions to daily routines, business operations, and more confidence that electricity will be there when it is needed most. Fast response and restoration times help limit the impact of outages on homes and families.
Understanding Power Outages
While Oshawa Power’s system is highly reliable, outages can still happen. Causes can include weather, equipment issues, and foreign interference such as construction activity, wildlife contacts, motor vehicle accidents, vandalism, and other factors outside of Oshawa Power’s control. When outages occur, crews respond quickly and work safely to restore power as soon as possible.
In 2025, approximately 40% of all outages were classified as being caused by Foreign Interference. The table below outlines how many outages fell under each category last year:
| Outage Cause | % of Total Outages |
|---|---|
| Foreign Interference | 40% |
| Equipment Failure | 29% |
| Tree Contact | 20% |
| Unknown | 8% |
| Scheduled Outages | 3% |
Notable Outages
While each year brings new challenges, a few outages in 2025 stood out as particularly impactful or unusual, including those caused by foreign interference and the increasing unpredictability of local weather patterns.
February 3, 2025
Cause: Equipment Failure
This was the first significant outage of the year. A connector on a feeder’s overhead conductors failed, causing a feeder lockout. Crews responded promptly, identified the issue, and completed repairs to safely restore power to customers.
July 5, 2025
Cause: Foreign Interference
A sparrow made contact with electrical equipment, resulting in a feeder lockout. While the outage was brief, it highlights how wildlife interactions can affect the electricity system.
July 22, 2025
Cause: Foreign Interference
A crane came into contact with powerlines, causing a feeder lockout. No one was injured. Oshawa Power crews worked with emergency services to secure the area and restore power safely.
September 5, 2025
Strong winds with gusts up to 63 kilometres per hour caused a tree limb to contact powerlines and crews also found multiple metallic foil balloons tangled in the lines, which had to be safely removed before power could be restored. The coincidental timing of both of these issues occurring at nearly the exact same time resulted in a more difficult restoration process for our crews as they had to assess, locate, and repair both issues simultaneously, causing an approximately 2.5 hour outage in the affected area.
Planning for Today and Tomorrow
Oshawa Power takes a proactive approach to maintaining and improving reliability through careful planning and ongoing monitoring of the electricity system.
Distribution System Plan
Our Distribution System Plan balances the current and future needs of communities across the city. It helps prepare the system for growth, new technologies, and changing electricity use. This planning supports continued reliability and ensures the grid can meet customer needs for years to come.
Asset Condition Assessment
Our Asset Condition Assessment program monitors the health of electrical equipment across the system. Poles, wires, transformers, and other assets are regularly inspected and assessed. Assets that exceed acceptable risk levels are flagged for planned replacement, helping reduce the likelihood of unplanned outages.
A Grid You Can Rely On
In 2025, Oshawa Power once again delivered electricity with reliability that exceeds provincial averages. These results reflect careful planning, targeted investment, and the dedication of our crews who work every day to keep the power on.
Reliable electricity is often taken for granted until it is unavailable. Oshawa Power is proud to provide a dependable system that supports homes, neighbourhoods, and the city of Oshawa, today and into the future.
To compare how we measure up to LDCs across the province and our own previous performance, check out the OEBs Scorecard Comparison Tool.
