/R E P E A T -- MaRS announces pilot program offering new energy management apps to Ontario consumers/

TORONTO, Nov. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Ontarians will get access to new apps to help manage their energy consumption data, thanks to a pilot program led by MaRS Discovery District, in partnership with Hydro One and London Hydro and supported by the Ministry of Energy.

Apps from Energent, BuiltSpace, Eyedro and Zerofootprint will be made available to consumers in London Hydro and Hydro One's service territories throughout the duration of the year-long pilot program.

MaRS Data Catalyst, which brings together data and analysis to help grow Ontario's innovation economy, and Ontario's Ministry of Energy are working with industry partners to enable electricity consumption data access through the adoption of the Green Button Standard, already popular in the US.

Green Button aims to give Ontarians direct, timely access to their own energy data through a secure download from their utility's website. The 4.7 million smart meters installed in homes and small businesses across the province enable consumers to access their own consumption data via the use of third-party apps.

As part of the Green Button initiative, MaRS Data Catalyst is piloting the first adoption of the Connect My Data program. Connect My Data is a voluntary initiative that will enable participating consumers to securely share their electricity consumption information with Green Button-enabled apps of their choice, which will offer consumer education and create opportunities for conservation through behaviour change, energy efficiency upgrades, energy management system automation and other potential uses.

The apps participating in the Green Button pilot program are:

Energent, a leading North American provider of model-based energy informatics and optimization for commercial, industrial and institutional applications.

BuiltSpace, a simple, secure, practical, collaborative and integrated software-as-a-service (SaaS) app for operating, maintaining and improving building portfolios.

Zerofootprint, which allows consumers to: compare their electricity consumption with that of their neighbours; understand how to reduce it; and distributes ZerofootprintRewards to those who make measurable reductions.

Eyedro Green Solutions Inc., manufacturer of the Eyedro real-time electricity monitor and myFreeMonitor.com cloud service, which helps users visualize electricity usage, identify waste and cut electricity costs.

Green Button Download My Data, the precursor to Connect my Data, has already been implemented across nearly 60 per cent of Ontario with participation from seven utilities. To find out more about how to participate in the Connect My Data pilot, visit: www.greenbuttondata.ca/pilots .

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto. MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada's next generation of growth companies. In the last three years, MaRS startup clients have raised over $750 million in capital, earned over $375 million in revenue and hired well over 3,500 workers into knowledge economy jobs.

About MaRS Data Catalyst
MaRS Data Catalyst brings together data and analysis from a variety of partners to track, quantify and grow Ontario's innovation economy. It uses data and insight to support the province's entrepreneurs, researchers, policy-makers and innovators.

About Hydro One
Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario's 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 122,000 km low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Province of Ontario.

About London Hydro
London Hydro Incorporated is a Local Distribution Company with the City of London as its sole shareholder. London Hydro has been rated at the 5^th most efficient utility in the province of Ontario and delivers a safe, reliable supply of electricity to over 149,000 customers spanning a territory of 425 square kilometers. A summer peaking utility with an average peak load of 675 MW, London Hydro's all-time peak was set on August 2, 2006 at 719 MW.

SOURCE MaRS Discovery District