Peterborough Distribution Inc. has been sold to Hydro One.

The deal was announced Wednesday morning. Hydro One will pay the City of Peterborough $105 million.

The deal includes the wires, poles and transformers of Peterborough Utilities, which deliver electricity to 37,000 customers in Peterborough, Lakefield and Norwood.

"Hydro One looks forward to welcoming the customers and employees of Peterborough Distribution to our family," stated Patrick Meneley, Hydro One's executive vice-president, in a press release.

The deal is subject to Ontario Energy Board (OEB) approval, which could take a year to close, said city CAO Sandra Clancy.

If OEB approval is granted, there's a closing date set on the sale and money changes hands.

Coun. Dan McWilliams, who voted in favour of the sale, said he thinks the OEB will grant its approval.

"They (OEB) will look at this as a positive step forward," he said of the sale. "There's no reason this should not fly through with no problems."

But Coun. Keith Riel isn't so sure.

Riel, who opposes the sale, said Wednesday he has a petition on his website that has quickly collected nearly 140 signatures from people who don't think PDI should be sold.

He said he'll send this petition to Premier Doug Ford and to the OEB in the hope that the OEB may withhold approval in the face of public outcry.

"They (OEB) may say, 'No - we won't approve the sale,'" Riel said.

Mayor Daryl Bennett praised the deal in a statement released Wednesday.

"Hydro One's investment in Peterborough secures its existing jobs in our community, provides guarantees for Peterborough Distribution workers, and creates new jobs through the opening of a new regional operations centre in Peterborough," Bennett stated.

Bennett, who has always supported the sale, is running for re-election against Coun. Diane Therrien, who has always opposed it.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Therrien wrote that she had urged "meaningful consultation with the community" over the proposed sale - but that consultation never happened.

"It was clear then and it is clear now that there is no desire from the current mayor to think outside the box," she wrote.

"If elected mayor of Peterborough, I will conduct business differently - in a more transparent, consultative way that is in the best interest of the community."

The sale, which met with vocal disapproval from many community members, was approved by council in December 2016 by a 6-5 vote.

Voting in favour were: Mayor Daryl Bennett, Coun. Henry Clarke, Coun. Dan McWilliams, Coun. Lesley Parnell, Coun. Dave Haacke and Coun. Andrew Beamer.

Voting against it were: Coun. Dean Pappas, Coun. Keith Riel, Coun. Don Vassiliadis, Coun. Diane Therrien and Coun. Gary Baldwin.

At least one councillor predicted Wednesday the sale of PDI will be an issue in the municipal election on Oct. 22.

Coun. Dean Pappas said that as he's canvassing for re-election, he's encountering many people who oppose the sale.

"I'm still opposed to it - and people at the doors are as well," he said.

At one point earlier this year, it looked as though the deal wouldn't come together: Hydro One walked away from talks in March, but negotiations later resumed. City officials said the terms of the deal approved in 2016 had not changed.

The city issued a news release Wednesday with details of the terms. It includes:

. Protections for PDI employees with employees receiving employment offers to move to Hydro One.

. A one per cent distribution rate reduction and a five-year freeze in distribution rates.

. A second five-year period with distribution rate increases limited to inflation and an earnings-sharing mechanism to offset rates in year 11 and onward.

. A Hydro One regional operations centre and new fleet maintenance facility in Peterborough.

That regional office will likely bring 30 new jobs to the city, Coun. Lesley Parnell wrote in a statement Wednesday.

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Coun. Don Vassiliadis, who serves in Monaghan Ward, voted against the sale; he was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Coun. Dave Haacke said that as he canvasses for re-election, people are excited about the prospect of those new jobs because they don't want their grown sons and daughters to have to leave Peterborough for lack of employment.

Meanwhile, council hasn't voted yet on how exactly to use the proceeds of the sale (which are expected to be somewhere between $50 million and $55 million once PDI's debts are paid, as well as taxes on the sale.)

Coun. Andrew Beamer wrote in a statement to The Examiner on Wednesday that the proceeds, if invested, will likely yield an annual return somewhere between $3 million and $4 million - money the city could use for programs, services or construction.

But Coun. Gary Baldwin said in an interview that one of the city's prime options for reinvestment can be crossed off the list.

There had been discussion of reinvesting the proceeds into the power generation side of Peterborough Utilities, Baldwin said, but that may no longer be a viable idea since the new Progressive Conservative government in Ontario has cancelled two hydroelectric dams planned by Peterborough Utilities.

Yet Bennett wrote in his statement that the proceeds from the sale may still be reinvested in Peterborough Utilities "to increase the annual return on that investment for property taxpayers."

Coun. Henry Clarke said Wednesday he also hopes the money will go back into the utility.

Clarke said in an interview he's relieved the sale is finally complete and that council got exactly what it bargained for: $105 million and a new regional office, for example.

"There were no new conditions, and no new terms," he said. "I can't emphasize that too strongly."

Nonetheless, at least two citizens remained deeply skeptical about that on Wednesday.

Candace Rennick of Peterborough is secretary-treasurer for CUPE Ontario, which commissioned an Environics poll that found 90 per cent of respondents didn't want PDI sold to Hydro One.

In a statement Wednesday, she wrote that CUPE still "wholeheartedly" opposes a sale, as do the poll respondents.

"It's disappointing that the community voice has been disregarded again," she wrote.

"How do we know it's the same deal that council voted on?... There has been a complete lack of transparency around this second sale. Why is that?"

Roy Brady, chairman of the local chapter of the Council for Canadians, advocated for keeping PDI in public hands.

He said he thinks citizens should be allowed to read the contract to see for themselves that the city got everything it was promised in the sale.

"We the people have to be able to read the contract - it has to be available," he said. "The contract needs to be showed - they can't hide it."

joelle.kovach@peterboroughdaily.com

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