As the third-largest municipally-owned electrical utility in Ontario, Hydro Ottawa maintains the electricity distribution systems in the city, and serves over 335,000 residential and commercial customers across a service area of 1,100 square kilometres.

[3] The history of the supply of electricity began in the 1880s with private electrical suppliers, became public in the early 1900s and continued in competition with private suppliers, chiefly those of Thomas Ahearn and his companies, until the 1950s.

[5] In 1885, the Royal Electric Company (of Montreal, formed in 1884)[6] set up street lighting systems in Charlottetown and St. John's, Newfoundland.

[7] Ottawa had originally intended on using this company to light the city's streets, however, council contracted Ottawa Electric Light Company (formed 1884)[6] to install 165 arc lamps[4] on the city's streets.

In 1905, The City purchased Consumers Electric for $200,000, ending Ahearn's ongoing attempts at acquiring the company.

It commissioned W. C. Beattie to design this Art Deco style office building in 1934.