Did you know that The City has been providing electricity services to the community for almost 100 years? We’ve grown and adapted, but our governance and business model has remained largely unchanged. As the industry evolves and regulatory requirements shift, our current model limits our ability to react, respond, innovate and plan for the future. This review is meant to explore options that will allow us to continue providing reliable, cost-effective services while ensuring long-term sustainability.  

Modernizing our Electric Utility will: 

• Enhance decision-making with access to better tools and data
• Increase agility to respond to challenges and opportunities
• Strengthen access to capital
• Attract and retain skilled staff
• Offer flexible solutions to meet evolving needs
• Overcome current system limitations
• Enable strategic infrastructure investment for growth

An MCC is a corporation that is owned by a municipality to provide specific services or functions that benefit the municipality and its residents, while operating at arm’s length from municipal administration.  

It’s a way to keep electricity public while creating more opportunities to plan to plan for  the future, support growth, and continue making decisions that benefit the community.  

Creating an MCC is one way to meet Council’s goals for utility services – keeping them reliable, responsive, affordable, marketable, adaptable, and financially beneficial. In the case of the Electric Utility, the benefits are: 

• The City remains in control 
• Stronger oversight and expertise 
• Stronger financial options 
• A stronger focus on service 
• More opportunities for innovation 
• Sustainability for future generations 

This decision was made following a thorough, in-depth process as outlined by both the Municipal Government Act and the Municipally Controlled Corporation Regulations. 

• In July, 2024, City Council directed Administration to explore the option of transitioning the Electric Utility to an MCC. This direction was provided after a scoping study and analysis was done on three governance options: Department + (existing municipal department with enhancements), MCC and divestment (sell). 
• In January 2025, a consultant was hired to prepare the legislated Business Plan, which outlines how the MCC would operate and be funded and to help The City prepare for the Public Hearing. 
• In March 2025, City Council set a Public Hearing for June 23, 2025. A Public Hearing is required in advance of passing a resolution related to the establishment of an MCC. 
• As required by legislation, the Business Plan was made available for public inspection 30 days in advance of the Public Hearing. 
• Through May and June, a communications and education campaign was rolled out to help citizens understand the proposed change to to understand how they could contribute their feedback to the Public Hearing process. A series of open houses was also head across the community.
• The Public Hearing was held on June 23 and continued on June 24 when Council passed the resolution to transition the Electric Utility to an MCC. 

See Project Milestones for a complete project history.