About 50 people turn out to hydro merger information sessions

Tillsonburg Mayor Deb Gilvesy answers questions from former Mayor John Armstrong during an open house on a possible merger between Tillsonburg Hydro Inc. and ERTH Power. Feedback was mostly positive from the 50-plus people who attended the two open houses. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Concerns about changes to monthly electricity bills were the largest concern among the 50 people who attended the two open houses held about the possible merger between Tillsonburg Hydro Inc. (THI) and ERTH Power.

The possible merger was announced on Sept. 9, and would see Tillsonburg Hydro merge with ERTH, which is a collaboration of local utilities, if it proceeded. Tillsonburg would be the second-largest partner within ERTH, and would still have a say on local decisions if the merger moves forward.

The number of utilities in Ontario has been reduced dramatically since the passage of the Electricity Act, 1998, through either mergers or sales to Hydro One. One factor in THI’s board considering a merger is the need for $29 million in upgrades to the town’s transformer station to increase capacity.

Two open houses, one on Sept. 29 and the second on Oct. 6, were held to explain the process, garner feedback, and answer any questions the public may have.

“We actually get to choose this and have a say going into the future,” said THI board chair Dan Rasokas.

Chris White, president and CEO of ERTH, said people were generally positive.

“If they came in with questions or doubts, they left more informed,” he said.

The big question, not surprisingly, was whether there would be an impact on rates.

“We’re very confident we’re stronger together and together we can mitigate those rate increases to our customers,” he reassured.

Another concern was the response time in the event of an outage. White, who transitioned from lineman to CEO over the years with the company, explained that Tillsonburg currently has one person on call. However, if there are issues, 90 per cent of calls require two people to address the call. Currently, the person on call needs to find a second person from amongst Tillsonburg’s five linesmen.

Under the possible post-merger scenario, there will be two people on call in the southern area. White predicted a similar response time to the initial call, but was hopeful that power restoration times would be faster.

If the merger were to occur, Tillsonburg would be the second largest shareholder after Ingersoll of the 10 in ERTH. The merger would also bring more in-house expertise to the utility.

Tillsonburg Mayor Deb Gilvesy said she had a few residents contact her outside of the meetings, but not a lot.

“People had a lot of fantastic questions, but it really goes down the bottom line,” she said of the open houses, while pointing to an information panel titled the bottom line that explained if THI were to invest $29.2 million in upgrades, there would be a 104 per cent increase to the fixed costs for utility customers.

She also said this issue has been a long time coming and emphasized that no decision has been made yet, and it will be up to the shareholder down the road.

The Town of Tillsonburg is the sole shareholder, and council meets as the shareholder of THI at least once per year. The next step will be to assess the feedback from the open houses and then determine the next course of action.

If the decision is to proceed with the merger, an application will need to be submitted to the Ontario Energy Board. Then it will be a waiting game for an OEB decision.