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ARTICLE · 05 JUNE 2025

The Future Of LDCs: How To Unlock More Innovation And Economic Development

Gowling WLG
Gowling WLG
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Gowling WLG

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As Ontario confronts a surge in electrification, economic growth, and technological disruption, local distribution companies ("LDCs") stand at the crossroads of risk and opportunity.

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Sukhman Sangha
Sukhman Sangha
Thomas Timmins
Thomas Timmins
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As Ontario confronts a surge in electrification, economic growth, and technological disruption, local distribution companies ("LDCs") stand at the crossroads of risk and opportunity.

On April 30, 2025, Gowling WLG hosted its annual Energy Dinner, bringing together senior energy sector and financial sector leaders from across the province to critically examine the future of Ontario's LDCs. In a wide-ranging discussion, the need for Ontario to rethink its power distribution sector model to find ways of supporting the massive growth and redevelopment of the distribution sector now getting underway was made clear.

Rethinking Ontario's risk framework

Ontario's current regulatory regime, overseen by the Ontario Energy Board ("OEB") and the Ministry of Energy, emphasizes cost-certainty and prudence. The OEB's rate-making practices have historically been grounded in a cost-of-service model that requires utilities to justify capital and operational expenditures based on

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