Hydro One shakeup won’t impact deal to buy PDI
The city is still in talks to sell its power distribution system to Hydro One, a local official said, even though Hydro One’s entire board of directors quit this week and the CEO retired.
John Stephenson is the CEO of Peterborough Utilities Group. He stated in an email to The Examiner on Friday that the changes at Hydro One won’t affect the plans to sell Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI).
“We don’t expect that the Hydro One changes will have any impact on the discussions or timeline to complete the PDI transaction,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, both city CAO Sandra Clancy and Mayor Daryl Bennett said a deal to sell PDI to Hydro One for $105 million could be struck by the end of J uly.
Neither of them could be reached for comment on Friday.
But Coun. Dan McWilliams, who sits of the board for PDI and is in favour of the sale, said he thinks the agreement will come together as planned.
“There’s no reason a deal should not come to fruition by the end of July,” he said. “This deal is almost done. I don’t see them pulling the plug on this.”
On Wednesday, new Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford made good on a campaign promise by announcing the immediate retirement of Hydro One’s CEO, Mayo Schmidt, and the resignation of the entire board of directors.
Ford had promised that if elected he would fire Schmidt (who earned a salary of $6.2 million last year).
Under an agreement between the new Progressive Conservative government and the partially privatized power utility, Schmidt will retire and Hydro One’s board of directors will resign and be replaced.
According to a statement from Hydro One, Schmidt will not be entitled to severance. A new board of directors is expected to be selected by Aug. 15.
Coun. Henry Clarke, who voted in favour to sell PDI, said he didn’t have any concerns on Friday that any of it will affect the deal.
“As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge at Hydro One: as long as the terms (of a sale) are all the same, all’s kosher,” he said.
But Coun. Dean Pappas, who has always opposed a sale, isn’t so sure the city should pursue a deal any further.
The new provincial government may not expect small municipally owned utilities to consolidate with larger ones, as the Liberal government had, he said.
The city should put the brakes on the discussions, he said, until it’s clear what position the provincial government might take on smaller utilities.
“I definitely think it’s prudent for us to wait,” Pappas said.
Coun. Diane Therrien, who has also opposed a sale of PDI, said she also thinks the city ought to wait until it’s clear what approach the province may take to smaller utilities.
“It’s prudent to wait before we follow through with this deal,” she said.
Coun. Keith Riel, who also has always been opposed to selling PDI, said he was disappointed the changes at Hydro One won’t delay a sale.
“I’m sorry to hear it – I thought it might put a kibosh on it for awhile,” he said. “Maybe we should send a letter to Doug Ford to ask him to intervene.”