Guelph Hydro looking to merge with Alectra

GUELPH — Guelph Hydro has announced it will pursue a merger with the second-largest municipally-owned provider of electricity in North America.

The potential merger with Alectra Inc. — which serves nearly 1 million people across the Golden Horseshoe — was announced Wednesday. This comes after more than a year of public consultations and looking at what made financial sense.

“This is nothing but good news for the City of Guelph,” Mayor Cam Guthrie told the Mercury Tribune. “Not only are we looking at lower rates, not only are we looking at an increased dividend which we can invest more into the community, but we’re looking at innovation when it comes to the commitment that Alectra is going to be making about building a green centre — a hub here in town that will also create good jobs.”

According to a news release announcing the potential merger, the City of Guelph expects joining forces with Alectra will see customers avoid rate increases, and that electricity distribution rates would be lower than if Guelph Hydro had kept going solo.

As part of a potential merger, Alectra has said it intends to build a Green Energy and Technology Centre in the city. Brian Bentz, the president and CEO for Alectra, says the facility will allow for the development of new green energies, as well as adapt to a changing marketplace.

“As we’re moving from centralized power to decentralized power systems — where consumers will produce their own energy and store their own energy — we need to make sure these systems work, and that they make sense for consumers, and that they can integrate with the grid,” Bentz said.

“There’s a lot of learning, a lot of studies, a lot of pilot projects that need to be done, a lot of technology that needs to be understood, data management, how we fund these things; that all needs to be figured out.”

Bentz added that if the merger goes through, Guelph Hydro headquarters would become the southwest hub for Alectra for at least the next decade. While the hub would see Guelph as its priority, those workers could be called in to assist other parts of Alectra’s network should the need arise.

The merger will come before city council on Dec. 13 for a final vote.

Bentz says that should there be any job cuts, it will not be done via layoffs.

“If there is any … changes in employment, it’s done through attrition, early retirement or voluntary severance packages that people choose to take.”

Guelph Hydro currently employs about 130 people.

Over the next two months, the City of Guelph will be conducting more public consultations ahead of a vote by council in December on the merger.