Terms of Use

These Terms of use were last updated on April 2nd, 2025

This website and related online services are operated by Hydro Ottawa Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Hydro Ottawa”).

Your access to and continued use of this website and related online services (“Online Services”) constitutes acceptance of these Terms of Use, and you acknowledge and agree that you have read, understood, and accept these Terms of Use. Your access to and use of Online Services contained in this website constitutes acceptance of the terms applicable to all Online Services set out in these Terms of Use, along with the terms of Hydro Ottawa’s Privacy Notice.

Hydro Ottawa reserves the right to revise and update the Terms of Use of this website without notice. Please review the Terms of Use posted on this website periodically for any updates.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

  1. Your use of the Online Services is at your sole risk and the Online Services is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Hydro Ottawa, its directors, officers, shareholder, employees (permanent or contract), auditors, consultants, professional advisors (including, without limitation, legal, engineering, insurance, environmental, tax and financial advisors), contractors and agents and those of its affiliates and the agents and advisors of such persons (collectively, "Hydro Ottawa Representatives") do not guarantee or warrant:
    1. the performance, availability, coverage, uninterrupted use, security or operation of the Online Services;
    2. the accuracy, timeliness, reliability or completeness of the Online Services, content and/or the results obtained; and/or
    3. that the Online Services will meet your requirements.
  2. Hydro Ottawa Representatives do not make any express or implied representations, warranties or conditions, including warranties of title or non-infringement, or implied warranties of merchantable quality or fitness for a particular purpose, with regard to the Online Services or any content. You expressly agree that your participation in the Online Services is at your own risk. All representations, warranties and conditions of any kind, express or implied, are excluded to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.
  3. Hydro Ottawa and any Hydro Ottawa Representatives will not be liable to you or to any third party for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, economic or punitive damages or any loss (including loss of profit or revenue, financial loss, loss of business opportunities, personal injury, death, damage to property or any other foreseeable or unforeseeable loss, however caused) that results from or relates directly or indirectly to any aspect of the Online Services, its content or your participation therein, even if we were negligent or were advised of the possibility of such damages, whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise, including costs incurred from alternate arrangements, including but not limited to: (i) the use or the inability to use the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service; (ii) Online Services, Email and/or SMS/Text content; (iii) our termination, restriction or suspension of the Online Services; (iv) our changes to the Online Services; (v) any unavailability of the Online Services or unauthorized access to information; (vi) any errors in the Online Services content; and/or (vii) any other matter relating directly or indirectly to the Online Services. These limitations apply regardless of whether the party liable or allegedly liable was advised, had other reason to know or in fact knew of the possibility of such damage or loss.
  4. Hydro Ottawa reserves the right to edit, delete, modify, vet or change any material posted on this website at its sole discretion. In particular, Hydro Ottawa warns users that rate and cost information contained on this website is subject to change and users may be subject to different rate applications.

Terms Applicable to All Online Services

  1. As part of its commitment to seek to improve the Online Services made available to its customers, Hydro Ottawa will provide access to Online Services through this website. Hydro Ottawa may withdraw any Online Services at any time upon reasonable notice either through this website or in another manner deemed by Hydro Ottawa to be appropriate in the circumstances. Hydro Ottawa may terminate your use of any Online Services if you have used the Online Services in any way that is contrary to law, contrary to these Terms of Use or that disrupts the use of the Online Services by others.
  2. The Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability contained in these Terms of Use will also apply to the benefit of any third parties whose information is accessible through any Online Services.
  3. Your use of Online Services will be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada, and you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario.
  4. You acknowledge and agree that you may not, and warrant that you will not:
    • send or otherwise make available via email and/or SMS/Text content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libellous, invasive of another’s privacy, or contains hate speech; or
    • use the Online Services in violation of any local, provincial and/or federal law.

Privacy and Security

  1.  Data Processing: By using the Online Services, you accept and acknowledge that:
    • Bill information will be processed by Hydro Ottawa and its service providers in accordance with Hydro Ottawa’s Privacy Notice;
    • Bills and notifications are not encrypted or password-protected;
    • Email communications may be intercepted or accessed by unauthorized parties; and
    • Your information may be stored and processed in various jurisdictions.
  2. Third-Party Services: You understand that:
    • Service providers may process your information on Hydro Ottawa’s behalf; and
    • Your information is subject to applicable privacy laws and regulations.
  3. International Transfers: By receiving communications and through use of the Online Services, you acknowledge and consent that any personal information provided by you or collected as part of your use of Online Services may be processed and stored in the United States by our service providers and their subcontractors. As such, your personal information will be subject to U.S. laws, which may differ from those of your country of residence and may provide less privacy protection. By using these Online Services, you explicitly acknowledge and accept these risks. Hydro Ottawa ensures that all necessary measures are taken to protect your personal information in line with applicable data protection laws, but it is important to be aware that your information may be accessible to U.S. authorities under U.S. legislation. By using these Online Services, you consent to this international transfer, processing, and storage of your personal information.

Specific Online Services

MyAccount (online account)

  1. MyAccount is a service that provides customers with electronic access to their account information, including bill, payment and electricity consumption history.  By registering for MyAccount you have the ability to:
    1. 12.1   Subscribe to online billing: E-mail notifications will be sent to you when your electronic bill is ready for viewing (see Electronic Billing Service below for service terms and conditions).
    2. 12.2   View, download and print your bill as well as any inserts and enclosures included with the bill.
      • Please check with your financial institution to confirm that printed copies of your electronic bills can be used to pay in person or for mailing payments to Hydro Ottawa;
      • The absence of the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) coding may prevent the processing of your payment.
    3. 12.3   Enroll in an automated payment plan.
    4. 12.4   View your electricity usage and billing history.
    5. 12.5   Authorize certain third party access to your usage data and/or customer information.
  2. By registering for MyAccount, you accept the following responsibilities:
    • You will ensure that information provided to Hydro Ottawa - including your e-mail address - is correct and current and that you will notify Hydro Ottawa of any changes to that information;
    • You will not alter, distort or otherwise change the content of any electronic bill information or any inserts included with an electronic bill or attempt to do so in any way; and
    • You will not access or attempt to access any bill information of any other person.

Electronic Billing Service

Service Delivery

  1.  Bill Delivery: Hydro Ottawa will:
    • Send electronic bills to your designated email address;
    • Provide notice when your bill is ready; and
    • Provide access to your bills for the previous two years, through MyAccount and/or PDF document.
  2. Electronic Billing Consent: You understand and agree that:
    • Your bills will be delivered electronically to the email address you have provided, either as a link to a PDF document or a link to MyAccount (online or through the mobile app);
    • You will be invited to opt-in to receive the Hydro Ottawa Newsletter (which you may opt-out from receipt at any time as set out below);
    • You are responsible for maintaining accurate contact information;
    • You must promptly notify Hydro Ottawa of any changes to your email address;
    • Failure to receive an electronic bill for any reason whatsoever, including technical issues, email delivery problems, or incorrect contact information, does not release you from your obligation to pay by the due date. You are solely responsible for ensuring timely payment regardless of bill delivery method; and
    • Hydro Ottawa reserves the right to resume paper billing if electronic delivery consistently fails.

Opt-Out Provisions

  1.  Right to Opt Out: You may opt out:
    • Electronic billing, by Contacting Hydro Ottawa customer service at https://hydroottawa.com/en/contact or alternatively by telephone at  (613) 738-6400.
    • Hydro Ottawa’s Newsletter or other communications, by clicking the "unsubscribe from this list" link at the bottom of any newsletter email. You can also unsubscribe by logging into MyAccount and opting out of receipt of the newsletter or other optional communications; note that you cannot opt out of service messages relating to billing or other essential communications from Hydro Ottawa.
  2. Opt-Out Process:
    • Requests relating to e-billing may take up to two billing cycles to process;
    • You will continue to receive electronic bills until the change is processed.
  3. Customer Responsibilities: You are responsible for:
    • Maintaining a valid email address;
    • Ensuring emails are not filtered as spam;
    • Checking spam folders regularly;
    • Maintaining necessary software and hardware to access electronic bills; and
    • Making timely payments regardless of email receipt.
  4. Payment Obligations: You acknowledge that:
    • Payment is due by the date shown on your bill;
    • Non-receipt of an electronic bill does not extend payment deadlines; and
    • You must contact Hydro Ottawa if you do not receive an expected bill.
  5. Changes: Hydro Ottawa reserves the right to:
    • Modify or discontinue the electronic billing services at any time;
    • Change these Terms of Use as may be communicated to customers in Hydro Ottawa’s sole discretion;
    • Terminate electronic billing for any account;
    • Resume paper billing at Hydro Ottawa’s discretion.
  6. Service Changes:
    • Material changes will be communicated via email or website posting;
    • Continued use of the electronic billing services constitutes acceptance of any changes;
    • Electronic billing automatically terminates if you cease to be a customer.

Email and/or SMS/Text Outage Alerts

  1.  All new residential and small commercial Hydro Ottawa customers with an active MyAccount and either a mobile number or email address on file are automatically enrolled in the Email and/or Short Message Service (“SMS”)/Text for Hydro Ottawa’s outage alerts service. Large commercial customers interested in receiving outage alerts will need to opt in via their MyAccount portal. For those registered, you agree that you have read and understood, and that you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and Hydro Ottawa’s Privacy Policy and Conditions of Service, each without limitation or qualification.
  2. Program description and the kinds of messages users can expect to receive:
    1. 23.1   Hydro Ottawa’s Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service provides on-the-go access to important information about power outages impacting its customers (i.e. initial outage notification, estimated times of restoration, restoration progress, etc).
    2. 23.2   You are under no obligation to continue to use the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service and may opt-out at any time and without prior notice to Hydro Ottawa. Just text STOP to PWROUT (797688) to stop receiving SMS/Text outage alerts or opt-out via MyAccount. To stop receiving email outage alerts, simply click the unsubscribe option in the email footer. You will be directed to log into MyAccount where you can update your alert preferences. We will send you an email or SMS/Text message, as applicable, to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts from us. If you want to subscribe again at a later time, you must opt-in via MyAccount.
    3. 23.3   If you cease to be a Hydro Ottawa customer, your participation in the outage alerts service via Email and/or SMS/Text will be automatically terminated; provided, however, that if you move within Hydro Ottawa’s service territory, the outage alerts service via Email and/or SMS/Text message will move with you and apply to your new account/address. As above, you are under no obligation to continue to use the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service and may opt-out at any time and without prior notice to Hydro Ottawa. Just text STOP to PWROUT (797688) to stop receiving SMS/Text outage alerts or opt- out via MyAccount. To stop receiving email outage alerts, simply click the unsubscribe option in the email footer.
    4. 23.4   If, at any time, you forget what keywords are supported, just text HELP to 797688. We will respond with a link to our outage alerts web page for helpful information about the program.
    5. 23.5   If you are experiencing issues with the messaging program, you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance.
  3. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
  4. There is no cost imposed by Hydro Ottawa for you to utilize the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts, although message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your carrier.
  5. In the event that there is an outage impacting a large number of customers, Hydro Ottawa reserves the right to turn off the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service.
  6. Hydro Ottawa may amend, restrict, suspend or otherwise change, at any time, any aspect of the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service, including any provision of these Terms of Use. Material changes may be posted on Hydro Ottawa's website or may be sent via a broadcast message. If you do not accept such change, your remedy is to terminate your participation in the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service as set out above. Your continued use of the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service after any changes to these Terms of Use constitutes your acceptance of the new terms.
  7. Hydro Ottawa reserves the right to terminate the Email and/or SMS/Text outage alerts service or to disable any subscriber's use of or access to the service for any reason and without notice, and to refuse access to any prospective subscriber for any reason.

Copyright

  1.  The Canadian laws of copyright protect all information, graphics and other materials contained on this website. No one may copy, redistribute, reproduce or republish in any form any material located on this website without the written authorization of Hydro Ottawa. Hydro Ottawa grants you a limited licence to print and copy information contained on this website for your personal, non-commercial use. Hydro Ottawa may revoke this limited licence at any time.

Contact Information

  1.  For questions or concerns about any of Hydro Ottawa’s Online Services, contact Hydro Ottawa customer service through authorized channels listed on our website or at https://hydroottawa.com/en/contact, or 613-738-6400.

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