Torontoist » electricity

Historicist: In the Dark

How Toronto survived, and even enjoyed, the Northeast Blackout of 1965.

Mass power outages can make the imagination run wild. Take the case of Mrs. Joe Clarke, who was driving through downtown Toronto during the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965. According to the Telegram, Mrs. Clarke “got the fright of her life when she saw a shadowy monster silhouetted in the moonlight.” After a moment of [...]

Lights Off?

Toronto, along with hundreds of other cities across the globe, marked Earth Hour this past Saturday night. The well-intentioned though often controversial attempt to protest climate change didn’t fare quite as well this year as it did last: according to Toronto Hydro, this year our collective electricity consumption dropped by 10%, compared to 15.1% in [...]

Vintage Toronto Ads: A Toast to Good Hydro Services

Sources: (left) The Globe, November 1, 1929, (right) The Toronto Star, November 19, 1936. We’re not sure which of the images conjured up by today’s ads is more disturbing. Is it the trio of factory workers depicted in a manner usually reserved for nursery rhyme characters or World War I casualties? Or is it the [...]

Bullfrog Extends Reach To Condos And Apartments

Photo by Marc Lostracco. In upcoming months, Toronto’s summer temperatures will once again strain the power grid, and the demand for more power means more power generation—and consequently, more pollution. For Ontario customers wishing to utilize renewable energy sources, there are currently only two options: expensively retrofit your property to generate some of its own [...]

How’s It Hangin’?

No, those aren’t Tibetan prayer flags strung up at Yonge and Carlton—it’s Toronto Hydro airing their dirty laundry for all to see, and if our own observations are any indicator, the windblown apparel is attracting a lot of mystified attention from pedestrians below. The stunt is a reminder that they’re giving out free clotheslines at [...]