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Halton Hills Hydro enjoyed profitable year CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Halton Hills Hydro Inc. had a very good year in 2005, increasing its net income before tax by 21.5 per cent. "The company continues to exhibit a satisfactory growth rate in terms of size and revenue from its regulated and approved rates, and revenue contributions from its affiliated companies (such as SouthWestern Energy Inc. and Halton Hills Fibre Optics Inc.)," said Bryan Boyce, chair of the HHHI board of directors in his annual report to the company's sole shareholder-- the Town of Halton Hills-- recently. "HHHI remains an excellent investment for its shareholder." HHHI paid the Town of Halton Hills, $1.2 million in interest in 2005, plus donated $325,000 to the Town as part of its financing deal with developers to speed up development of the 401 Corridor between Fifth Line South and Trafalgar Rd. HHHI is a mid-sized distribution utility with approximately 19,000 residential, industrial and commercial customers. It and its affiliates have a total of 45 regular employees. A key focus in 2005 that will continue this year is conservation and efficiency programs. HHHI's approach is multi-faceted and includes educating customers on energy efficiency, conducting commercial/industrial energy audits and water heater load control. In the last quarter of 2005, HHHI spent close to $140,000 on these programs and "efficiency benefits received from these programs have been satisfactory," said Boyce. Future initiatives include residential appliance surveys, compact fluorescent lighting coupon and giveaway programs, and smart metering (which not only measures how much electricity is used during a day but when). (Cynthia Gamble can be reached at cgamble@independentfreepress.com)