Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Campaigns

Street with hydro poles

As part of Festival Hydro’s (FHI) commitment and contribution to public safety and local interest in electrical-awareness education, FHI aims to provide Public Awareness of Electrical Safety programming and communications to adults, children and pre-teens in our service area. The following focus areas are specific ways FHI is contributing to public electrical safety, among other initiatives: 

Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Survey

Every two years, FHI connects with our customers within our service territory to assess their understanding of how to stay safe around electricity and electrical equipment.

The Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Survey is required by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and takes about 5 minutes to complete. Customers are not asked for payment or sensitive personal information. Participation is voluntary, and feedback helps improve electrical safety education.

FHI also uses this survey to help guide our safety education efforts and better understand where additional information may be needed. We thank you for your participation. 

2026 Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Scorecard (PAESS) Survey

Starting Monday, March 9, 2026 and continuing over the next week, Festival Hydro is undertaking a Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Survey as part of our electricity distributor scorecard requirement. Innovative Research Group, on behalf of Festival Hydro is carrying out this online survey. 

Should you have any questions please contact our office by phone at 519-271-4700 or by email at customerservice@festivalhydro.com.

What is the Public Awareness of Electrical Safety Scorecard (PAESS)?

PAESS is a bi-annual requirement of all Ontario distributors.  Results are filed with the Ontario Energy Board every second year and are part of Festival Hydro’s publicly available electricity distributor scorecard.

Who is eligible to participate in Festival Hydro’s PAESS survey?

Survey respondents are randomly selected to participate in this telephone survey.  Respondents do not need to be either Festival Hydro customers or billpayers – they only need to reside in Festival Hydro’s service territory to qualify for participation. Customers cannot “request” to participate in the survey. 

How will customer know if this is a legitimate survey?

The survey will be conducted by Innovative Research Group – evenings during the weekday and afternoons and evenings during the weekend. Innovative Research Group will be calling from 519-804-4448.  Innovative Research Group will not be calling you from a 1-800 or 1-888 or 1-866 telephone number.

How long will the survey take to complete?

The survey should not take more than 5 minutes of your time.

What information does Innovative Research Group collect and how is it used?

Innovative Research Group will ask for respondents’ age and postal code (if contacted on a mobile telephone). This is standard survey practice for research of this nature.

To ensure respondent privacy, all survey answers will be grouped together with those of others who completed the same survey and the information provided will be used for statistical purposes only.

All information gathered through Festival Hydro’s PAESS survey will be stored on Innovative Research Group’s firewall secured internal server.

Innovative Research Group does not collect personal financial information such as account, credit card or social insurance numbers.

Kids’ Electrical Safety Drawing Contest

FHI strives to ensure electrical public safety information is accessible to all, with a new initiative to empower children and their families and communities to make informed decisions regarding electrical public safety with the 2nd Annual Kids’ Electrical Safety Drawing Contest, taking place during the month of April 2026, to children from across Huron and Perth Counties, covering FHI's service areas. FHI believes this initiative will help to contribute to safer homes, schools, businesses and neighborhoods in our local communities!

2026 Kids’ Electrical Safety Drawing Contest

This year’s Kids’ Electrical Safety Drawing Contest theme is ‘Stay Back from Power Lines - Stay Safe!’. 

Young artists who are in Grades 1-3 and Grades 4-6 are encouraged to design an image depicting the contest electrical public safety message theme. FHI will review, vote and select finalists, from each age group category. Winners will receive gift and special recognition with their artwork being featured in FHI’s electrical public safety key messaging communication (e.g. on bill inserts, posts on social media, on the corporate website and in safety advertising etc.).

Artwork Could Feature:

✔ A person calling 911 or Festival Hydro to report a damaged or downed powerline, highlighting the 10-metres rule for downed lines

✔ A power technician (linesperson) on the job, highlighting the complexity and danger of electrical infrastructure

✔ A fun safety superhero reminding children to never climb trees near lines or fly kites nearby, highlighting the 3-metre rule for overhead lines

✔ A homeowner doing yard work, with a reminder to be aware of surroundings and never cut or trim trees close to powerlines

✔ A person driving who has found a downed powerline - reminding everyone to stay in their vehicle and never drive over a downed powerline

 

Exciting Prizes to Be Won!

Winning drawings will be featured in Festival Hydro’s electrical safety materials, social media platforms, and the top artists (from each category) will receive public recognition and a special prize!

How to Enter:
  • Have your child(ren) (if applicable) who are in Grades 1-3 and/or Grades 4-6 draw on a standard piece of white paper (8.5” x 11”);
  • Encourage the artist to use lots of colour, their individual creativity, and ensure the image correlates with the electrical safety message theme ‘Stay Back from Power Lines - Stay Safe!’. 
  • Scan or take a picture of the artwork (e.g. as a PDF or jpeg/png file), and;
  • Submit the artwork by completing the Entry Form by Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

Prior to submitting the artwork, please read the Kids’ Electrical Safety Drawing Contest Official Rules.