When I got a new job in the US, my boss took me and several coworkers to a restaurant for lunch as a way to welcome me. When the waitress asked what I wanted to drink I asked for a beer. I then heard one of my coworkers who was sitting next to me ask me incredulously, "What are you doing?" I responded that I was ordering a beer. He said that I could get fired for that. That's when I realized that for a country that seemed so similar to Canada on the surface it was quite different below that surface.
Though I have worked at places if the company was paying for the lunch they won't pay for alcohol. In those cases we've always asked for the beers to be on a separate check so the expense report is easier.
the Aussies would have been disappointed if I only had one...
Other parts of the country just call it power/electrical. But in NS my grand parents would also call it a "light bill".
https://www.aeso.ca/aeso/understanding-electricity-in-albert...
The name of the utility companies in most provinces was probably an influence. Until 1999 in Ontario it was the Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission, shortened normally to Ontario Hydro. Manitoba Hydro. Hydro Quebec. I think in Toronto they still stamp manhole covers with THES (Toronto Hydro-Electric System).
If I remember correctly, Hydro One also serves some parts of the Ottawa area, and their delivery rates were different enough from Hydro Ottawa that it was often a material consideration for where one chose to buy one's house.
When I immigrated to Canada (Ontario) a decade ago, the term hydro was the most confusing to me. I assumed it meant water supply or plumbing, but it was always in the wrong context. I imagined the disaster of hooking up the plumbing to the electrical service! Now it’s completely natural to call it “hydro” but confusing at first.