Please join us in acknowledging a significant milestone for The MEARIE Group — its 30th year delivering insurance and risk management solutions to Ontario’s electricity sector. Thirty years into our story, The MEARIE Group is a dynamic, mature and stable company with great potential to continue growing whilst remaining closely connected with the electricity sector’s needs. We view the future as very promising, and intend to focus our efforts on innovation, growth and long-term sustainability.
From the beginning, MEARIE has created success in the dynamic environment of the electrical utility industry. Formed by and for electric utilities, The MEARIE Group has expanded and evolved to serve our clients’ needs. Created in 1987, a point in time when many reciprocal insurance exchanges were formed, the utility industry saw MEARIE as a stop-gap solution to provide liability insurance protection for its Subscribers at stable, competitive rates. MEARIE has more than met that initial challenge. With steady client focus, The MEARIE Group has expanded over time to serve an array of customer needs including: a full suite of property/casualty insurance programs, group benefits, human resource services, trades, professional and management training, industry conferences and a variety of financial and business solutions - all targeted expressly to the electricity sector.
Our third decade has been truly transformative, driven by new opportunities and newly emerging risks, many technology-related. The Ontario Green Energy Act paved the way for entirely new renewable energy opportunities. These new forms of generation have been embraced by many LDCs. Smart meters and smart grids were introduced through this period inviting new thinking about electrical infrastructure and customers. Meanwhile, mergers and acquisitions continued to change the LDC landscape and one of the most prominent risks of our time has emerged: cyber risk. MEARIE has responded to all of this change through product development, client support and risk management initiatives. Multiple coverage adaptions and expansions have ensured LDCs’ risks are being adequately insured. The leading edge introduction of Privacy, Cyber & Network Security Liability insurance in 2012 was very important to the sector and has continued to be a focus through the ensuing years.
Evolution is a slow process but, given time, the results are evident. Our new corporate tagline, “Managing risk together,” speaks to this evolution, regarding both the collective nature of the Reciprocal as well as the broad spectrum of products and services The MEARIE Group delivers. These services are often insurance-based, but always in support of risk management through reduction, transfer or otherwise. The transformation we’ve been anticipating in the utility industry is upon us. In an environment of perpetual change, it is sometimes difficult to recognize moments of arrival. We believe this is one of those moments.
As The MEARIE Group President & CEO and the MEARIE Board Chair, we are proud to share our perspective on what makes MEARIE remarkable. It is, and always has been, the industry members who have come together to support this insurance reciprocal and continue to foster its growth, stability and evolution. Over the years, we have seen the Staff’s dedication in delivering successful results; the Board’s direction and commitment to this organization; and MEARIE Subscribers, supporters and partners who perpetuate their belief and confidence in this Reciprocal. Our gratitude extends to this collective for the success created.
Please join us at both our MEARIE AGM (March 27, 2017) and The MEARIE Conference (June 21-23, 2017). Both events will feature special anniversary acknowledgements and provide us an opportunity to thank you as a loyal customer to the Reciprocal.
We look forward to continuing to serve, with enduring spirit, your insurance, financial and business needs, both today and for the tomorrows to come.
C.C (Charlie) Macaluso Vinay Sharma
President & CEO MEARIE CHAIR
The MEARIE Group London Hydro Inc.