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Enmax Corp.’s proposed US$1.3 billion purchase of a Maine-based electricity company is stirring up controversy south of the border, where local lawmakers and union officials have questioned whether the City of Calgary-owned utility is taking on an alarmingly risky level of debt to finance the deal.

Enmax representatives — including CEO Gianna Manes — have been to the New England state on multiple occasions in recent months to meet with community leaders, employees and customers of Emera Maine, the publicly traded company Enmax plans to purchase as part of its efforts to diversify and grow its regulated electricity business. The deal, which was announced in March of this year, is expected to close in late 2019 or early 2020, subject to a regulatory approval process currently under way.

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The acquisition — which Enmax has said will help it generate stronger returns and potentially increase the annual dividend it pays to the City of Calgary — has been criticized here at home by those who worry the utility is assuming too much debt. Just last week, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Enmax by one level, from triple B+ to triple B over concerns about the estimated $455 million in debt the company is taking on.