The Power Commission of the City of Saint John (Civic Hydro) began as the result of efforts by a group of local citizens interested in having low cost electric power available in the city. The Commission 12 substations and services more than 35,000 local customers with energy sales of over 950,000,000 kilowatt hours annually. Saint John Energy has a staff of approximately 96, with a fleet of 38 service vehicles. There are currently a total of 24 active power transformers in use having an installed capacity of 339.5 MVA.

Throughout its history, the utility has built a reputation for efficient service at rates which are consistently among the most competitive in eastern Canada.

Important dates in Saint John Energy’s History:

December 5, 1922 - Saint John Common Council established the Power Commission of the City of Saint John under the terms of a resolution which reads as follows:

"That a Commission to be called the Power Commission of the City of Saint John be appointed for the purpose of erecting, constructing, and operating works for the transmission and distribution of electrical power and energy in the City of Saint John, and of controlling and managing same as provided for in Section 28 of the New Brunswick Electric Power Act, 1920."

July 28, 1923 - The first substation transformer was energized at the Cranston Avenue Substation at 12:30 p.m. That first substation was manned by three power operators with 24 hour supervision. The Commission contracted the purchase of 10,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy a year from the New Brunswick Power Company. By the end of 1924, the Commission was serving 1,842 customers and within four years was selling more than the amount originally agreed to in the contract.

1948 - The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission expropriated another electric power utility operating in Saint John at the time, the New Brunswick Power Company, and then sold the distribution system to Civic Hydro for $1,500,000. Merging the former New Brunswick Power with its own system, Civic Hydro saw its energy sales jump to 70,000,000 kilowatt hours in 1949.

The offices of Civic Hydro were located on Canterbury Street in the city's downtown area from 1924 to 1974. Over time this location was outgrown and in January of 1975, it relocated to 239 Charlotte Street where it maintained its operations truck garage since 1960.

August 1, 1997 - the Commission changed its trade name from "Civic Hydro" to "Saint John Energy", a name better identifying the utility with the community. This change also saw the utility's corporate logo redesigned to incorporate the name change.

December 1997 - Saint John Energy officially opened a new substation on Grandview Avenue servicing the East End of the city.

January 1998 - Saint John Energy experienced the worst ice storm in memory, with several days of freezing rain conditions leading to approximately 600 reports of downed wires. As many as 25,000 customers suffered power outages ranging in duration from a few minutes to as long as seven days.

February 1999 - the Somerset Street Substation was energized for the first time. This station, the newest of Saint John Energy's substation assets was built adjacent to the original Cranston Avenue Substation site which was phased-out.

February 7, 2001 - Saint John Energy receives its ISO 14001 certification following a successful auditing process of the utility’s Environmental Management System.

January 2004 - a total peak demand of 289 MVA was recorded, our largest peak to date.

October 1, 2004 - the NB electricity market opened to transmission level competition. At that time, the NB system Operator was established under the New Brunswick Electricity Act to oversee the introduction of competitive electricity supply to municipal utilities and large industrial customers, and to ensure adequate system reliability. This means that in theory, every customer connected to the transmission system with an electrical capacity in excess of 750 kilowatts is able to choose a supplier other than New Brunswick Power Distribution and Customer Service Corporation.

November 12, 2006 - Saint John Energy held our first ever energy conservation fair at Harbour Station as a kick off to our “Lighting the Way, Save Everyday” campaign. The campaign resulted in the distribution of 90,000 compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s) to our customers. The calculated cumulative savings to our customers over the life of these bulbs was projected to be in the order of $3.2 million dollars with a reduction of 26 million kgs of green house gases from the environment.

2006 - Saint John Energy, for the sixth consecutive year, was rated one of the top five utilities in Canada for its health and safety record in the less than 500 employee category as monitored by the Canadian Electricity Association.

June 16, 2008 - Saint John Energy moved out of its Charlotte Street location and into its new headquarters on the west side at 325 Simms Street.