The proposed merger of Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc. (GHESI) and Horizon (owned by Hamilton and St. Catharines) has been widely discussed in our community. Guelph City Council will be making a decision on the proposed merger on Monday September 29th. Both Hamilton and St. Catharines City Councils have recently supported the merger.
I represent Council on the Board of Directors of GHESI. I was involved in the discussions that led to the Board recommending the merger to Council. At that time, I abstained from voting on the recommendation in order to participate fully and freely in the discussion of the merits of the proposed merger with Council and the community, and to hear from our business and legal experts and staff on the business case.
I have provided my position to members of Council in a memo. I support the recommendation to merge. I have posted my memo to Council here as I also feel it is right on the eve of the decision for the public to understand my position.
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Council voted 8 – 5 AGAINST the recommendation to merge GHESI with Horizon.
It was a refreshing sight to watch all members of council debate this issue around the horseshoe in a professional manner. People will argue about the outcome, but to me the delight was watching 13 elected people being able to debate an issue without micro-managing, without inuendos being called across the horseshoe. Almost every councillor had an opinion and that opinion was clearly articulated by each.
It’s wonderful to have a professional group of people debating ssues in public, rather that reaching foregone conclusions behind closed doors.
FYI,,,,from the Barrie Examiner – Feb 13/09
Energy minister touts Ontario’s new green plan
Says utility mergers will help province
Large, strong electrical distribution companies will help power the province’s new Green Energy Act, George Smitherman told a Barrie crowd yesterday.
“They will develop more renewable energies and create a culture of conservation in our province,” Ontario’s energy and infrastructure minister told a crowd of hydro workers at the Army Navy & Air Force Club.
Through the Green Energy Act, the province hopes to create 50,000 new jobs from green-energy projects such as wind turbines, solar panels and biofuel plants. It’s expected to be unveiled next month.
Smitherman was speaking to about 350 employees of the newly merged PowerStream-Barrie Hydro, the first staff get-together since the Jan. 1 amalgamation.
Ontario’s deputy premier also reminded yesterday’s crowd that it was the province which encouraged the merger, a union which created the secondlargest electrical utility in this province.
Utility companies in Ontario had until Oct. 17 to buy each other out or merge to get a provincial transfer tax holiday, a savings of 33 per cent on any transaction. Barrie Hydro’s merger with PowerStream was approved by city council in September.
“The consolidation is a consolidation in which two strong utilities came together to create one that is even more powerful,” Smitherman said.
Owned by the municipalities of Vaughan, Markham and Barrie, PowerStream- Barrie Hydro now has 315,000 residential and business customers in Alliston, Aurora, Barrie, Bradford-West Gwillimbury, Beeton, Markham, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan.
Utility officials say that for now, customers will continue to pay the current distribution rates. But in three-to-five years, Barrie customers are expected to see lower rates.