No target number for utilities: energy ministry

Posted by Magda
During Guelph Hydro-Horizon merger talks, part of the motivation was the oft-repeated suggestion that Queen's Park only wanted to deal with 10 utilities (not the current 76-ish) and would force utilities to merge if necessary. Various reporters repeatedly asked where that number came from, and no one seemed to know.

Now, through FOI, I've secured a provincial policy note, dated July 28, from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure that says these interesting things:

• "There is no specific provincial target as to the appropriate number of electricity distributors in Ontario" and
• "Any decision to see local electricity assets is determined by the municipal shareholder based on an assessment of its needs and options."

I've made a similar request for information to the Ministry of Finance, which is where the decision to offer and then extend a tax holiday on hydro mergers originated. That request is going less well -- they said it would cost more than $2,000, so I've narrowed my search. Stay tuned on that one.

And in the meantime, read more merger news in tomorrow's paper.

Comments

[Dan Moziar]

One of the questions that needs to be answered is - Why is the Province discriminating against the private sector on distribution plant aquisitions, effectively burdening them with a 33% financial disadvantage on the price of the plant.
If the private sector is interested in the Electicity distribution sector, the unlevel playing field makes it very difficult for them to get involved.
I have heard the rhetoric on why the private sector is treated/excluded this way, but I do not buy it.
Could the private sector be more effective and efficient? We will never know as long as the playing field is not level.
I am surprised that the private sector has not raised objections on this treatment, but then they probably figure that this is a windmill that they cannot defeat.
The other interesting question is why is the Ministry of Finance, who gives the tax holiday to the public sector, not on the same page as the Ministry of Energy who have taken a hands off position on mergers.
I had a phone call recently from a customer who wanted to know if Electricity rates had gone up recently. I asked him to read the handout in his latest bill because the Power Production rates were just raised by a bit more than 10%. If you think that is bad, wait until you get the "smart meter" rate impact.