Toronto Hydro sued property owner for $20,000 to fix hidden storage: ombudsman

The city's ombudsman has found Toronto Hydro unfair after asking a property owner to pay $20,000 to repair an electrical storage facility hidden under a parking lot.

According to an investigative report released Friday by Toronto ombudsman Kwame Addo, the complainant bought the unit at the plaza in 1980 and did not know it had a transformer on the property.

According to the report, the transformer was located in an underground storage area dug into the parking lot of his facility.

In 2015, Toronto Hydro notified him that the vault needed repairs, at a cost of about $20,000. Addo noted that this amount is about half of the property owner's annual salary.

“Prior to the purchase of that property, (the owner) had no signs, written agreements or easements to warn of the existence of this warehouse,” the report said.

“No one told (the owner) that by purchasing the property, he was also assuming ownership of the underground storage facility that would carry the shipment and the responsibility of maintaining the vault itself.”

The property owner, identified in the report as Mr. A, took his concerns to the Ontario Energy Board, which sided with Toronto Hydro, for further consideration. In August 2022, he filed a complaint with the city ombudsman.

Addo noted that Toronto Hydro challenged his office's jurisdiction and a number of roadblocks prevented him from reviewing it.

Toronto Hydro argued that Mr. A or his legal representative should have done their due diligence when purchasing the property. However, Addo suggests that “due diligence by Mr A or his representative could not have alleviated his situation”.

The Office of the Ombudsman is recommending that Toronto Hydro cover the costs of maintaining and repairing a storage facility owned by Mr. A. Although the utility company said it would pay $20,000 in repair costs, they did not commit to future costs.

Instead, they say they will look at repair and maintenance costs as they occur.

According to the report, Toronto Hydro expressed concern that if they made an exception for Mr. A, it would be a “very difficult proposition and a slippery slope” for other customers.

However, Toronto Hydro also acknowledged that Mr. A was the only customer among more than 790,000 people responsible for providing electricity to other customers.

Addo also recommends that Toronto Hydro create a “clearly defined process for customer-owned infrastructure,” inform customers of their ownership responsibilities and review its inspection practices.