The city won't likely see the proceeds of the impending sale of the municipally owned electricity distribution system to Hydro One until early next year, councillors heard on Monday - and when they get the money, the president of Peterborough Utilities Group asked council to invest it entirely into PUG.

John Stephenson, the president and CEO of Peterborough Utilities Group (PUG), made his pitch before council at a meeting on Monday as he was updating council on the utilities company.

Stephenson told councillors they shouldn't expect to see the proceeds of the planned deal to sell Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI) to Hydro One until the first quarter of 2020.

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

The net sale proceeds for the city are expected to be somewhere between $50 million and $55 million on the $105-million sale to Hydro One.

"This is an unprecedented, maybe never-to-occur-again return for the city," Stephenson said. "It's not small potatoes."

He advised councillors to take the summer and fall to consider whether it wants to invest or spend the proceeds.

PUG operates the distribution of electricity and water in the city and surrounding communities and develops and operates hydro and solar generation facilities.

Stephenson told councillors that if they want to grow the utilities, they will eventually have to invest money into PUG.

There may be other areas where council would want to use the proceeds from the sale of PDI, he said, but he told council not to forget utilities.

He was suggesting council invest a large portion of the money into PUG even if "competing interests" are at play.

"I, selfishly, would like to take it all," Stephenson said of the proceeds from the sale of PDI. "We're a great place to invest money and we can do great things for you."

Councillors didn't debate or discuss the idea - they received the presentation for information.

City CAO Sandra Clancy mentioned in the meeting that council had previously asked for a treasurer's report, due this fall, to outline options and make recommendations on how council might want to spend or invest money from the sale of PDI.

The sale isn't complete yet because it's before the Ontario Energy Board for approval.

The OEB is the province's electricity and natural gas regulator; it's expected to consider an application to sell PDI to Hydro One and render a decision sometime later this year.

A technical conference is to take place later this month in Toronto to allow the OEB to clarify certain technical details about the planned sale.

Although the conference was scheduled for July 29, the date may change to accommodate people involved who may be away on vacation that week, Stephenson said.

Peterborough city council voted 6-5 in December 2016 to sell PDI to Ontario Hydro. A deal was then negotiated and finalized nearly a year ago.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

joelle.kovach

@peterboroughdaily.com

Read more about: