EPCOR – Opportunity And Accountability
In a close vote yesterday, City Council decided to transfer over the City’s Drainage Services to EPCOR. This was not an easy decision, partly because there was a lot of confusion around what this really means. Hopefully I can provide some clarity and insight here.
Firstly, oversight and ownership of assets remain with the City of Edmonton. EPCOR is 100% owned by the City of Edmonton and we have the ability, through regular shareholder meetings and appearances before Utility Committee, to oversee and regulate EPCOR’s performance, just as we do with our water services today. In the agreement with EPCOR, rate increases will be limited to 3% a year for 5 years, consistent with the City’s previous forecast. Beyond that, all rates will be set by City Council on the advice of our Utility Committee.
Second, I am pleased with the work of City Council, City officials and the EPCOR team for dealing with this matter in a public and transparent way. Councillor Knack’s motions ensure continued transparency into Drainage operations, and we have committed to making Council’s regulatory oversight of all EPCOR functions even more accessible to citizens. We all understand that our drainage system is critical, essential infrastructure in our city, and that won’t change.
Finally, I believe the Drainage Utility will benefit from EPCOR’s management acumen and I believe the transfer will produce efficiency and synergy with other EPCOR utility operations, both on the construction side as well as on the longer-term operations side. Beyond that, there is a strategic opportunity here for our city to see our home-grown company grow in other markets, in a way that benefits all of our citizens as shareholders in this company.
Higher efficiency, stronger outcomes, transparency and an opportunity to grow a company that can be continentally relevant is a worthy opportunity for the City of Edmonton to pursue.
If privatizing, for pennies on the dollar, infrastructure built on the backs of Edmontonian taxpayers over generations is such a great deal, why aren’t EPCOR’s financial successes resulting in LOWER costs, instead of steadily increasing prices, for the supposed “Owners”?
This is the right decision, will allow the billions of investments required into the storm system and free up scarce dollars for other needs. Wonder though if council will debate reinvesting the dividends into operations to keep rates lower. Would also like more detailed project and financial disclosure from Epcor on the assets they manage for us, city’s reports were very good.
Good points Maya, though if Edmontonians still directly owned their monopoly services the billions in investment required to update the storm system would have come from all the fees and charges that EPCOR now collects instead; see how that used to work?
Also, as you noticed public works had to provide incredibly detailed project and financial disclosure, but private businesses are legally allowed to operate comparatively inscrutably in that respect, which begs the question I have already asked, and has yet to be answered:
If privatizing, for pennies on the dollar, infrastructure built on the backs of Edmontonian taxpayers over generations is such a great deal, why aren’t EPCOR’s financial successes resulting in LOWER costs, instead of steadily increasing prices, for the supposed “Owners”?
Anyway, Edmonton bought another four years of this sort of selloff; bonne chance avec c’est!