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Newmarket-Tay Power welcomes new president, CEO

Ysni Semsedini takes over for retiring president Paul Ferguson beginning March 2
2020-01-21 Ysni Semsedini
Ysni Semsedini. Supplied photo/ Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd.

NEWS RELEASE
NEWMARKET-TAY POWER DISTRIBUTION LTD.
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The Board of Directors of Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd. (NT Power) is pleased to announce that Ysni Semsedini will be joining NT Power as the new president and CEO, beginning March 2, 2020. Mr. Semsedini will replace current president Paul Ferguson, who will be retiring after a long and successful career with NT Power.

“We are incredibly excited to be welcoming Mr. Semsedini to Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution. He is visionary and a seasoned professional in the industry,” says Newmarket Mayor John Taylor. “His progressive leadership and commitment to community building is the perfect fit for NT Power and we look forward to a bright future with Mr. Semsedini leading the way.”

“Under Mr. Semsedini’s innovative leadership, NT Power will continue to be well positioned to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing landscape in electricity generation and distribution,” says Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution board chair Cristine Prattas. “On behalf of the board of directors, we would like to sincerely thank Paul Ferguson for more than 30 years of dedicated service to the community and for being the driving force behind many progressive initiatives that have continued to make NT Power a leader in the industry.”

Mr. Semsedini joins NT Power as president and CEO of Festival Hydro Inc., which serves the City of Stratford and surrounding communities, and Rhyzome Networks, a community-owned Internet Service Provider (ISP). Both organizations have garnered international recognition for their forward-thinking approach under his leadership.

Mr. Semsedini has had a very successful career, including being the youngest CEO of any of the more than 70 utilities across the province. He has 17 years of experience in Ontario’s electric distribution industry and has held positions with Kitchener Wilmot Hydro and London Hydro. He has a bachelor of electrical engineering science degree, and masters degrees in engineering science and business administration. He is also an active leader in the sector in Ontario, serving on the board of directors of the Electrical Safety Authority, Electrical Distributors Association, the MEARIE Group and Ontario One Call.

Mr. Semsedini’s experience and future-forward approach aligns with the vision for NT Power. Newmarket also has a community-owned ISP, ENVI, which is a subsidiary of Newmarket Hydro Holdings Inc. and Tay Hydro Inc. ENVI launched in 2018 and is helping to bring more reliable, affordable and faster internet access to Newmarket’s business community. Powering the community with an ultra-high speed fibre network better connects the town, its businesses and the community to the rest of the world and is a significant step forward on the town’s journey toward being a truly ‘intelligent’ community.

Mr. Ferguson is retiring after serving Newmarket-Tay for more than 30 years as director of engineering, general manager and, most recently, president. Mr. Ferguson has had many accomplishments over his long career, including a significant role in the creation of ENVI, partnering to create the largest battery storage facility in the GTA and leading the way as the first utility in Ontario to introduce time-of-use metering and participate in an electric bus pilot project.

Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd. is an electricity distributor licensed by the Ontario Energy Board. NT Power provides electricity distribution services in the towns of Newmarket and Midland and certain parts of the Township of Tay. The shareholders are the Town of Newmarket and Township of Tay. Newmarket-Tay Power currently serves approximately 50,000 electricity distribution customers.

For more information on Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution, please visit here.

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