Fedeli says hydro consolidation must be voluntary
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 by: Kate Adams
Nipissing MPP Vic FedeliNews Release
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Nipissing MPP and PC Energy Critic Vic Fedeli reiterated his belief in the Ontario Legislature today that any consolidation of local distribution companies (LDCs) like North Bay Hydro must be voluntary.
This position was outlined in Fedeli’s Paths to Prosperity: Affordable Energy Ontario PC white
paper, released last May.
Fedeli issued a Members Statement today in response to a resolution passed by North Bay City Council last month. The text of the statement is below:
Speaker, the Council of the City of North Bay is concerned by recommendations contained within the recently released Local Distribution Company, or LDC, review panel report, and its potential impact on North Bay Hydro. They’re specifically concerned about the call for the creation of a
Northeast Regional Distributor that would be responsible for providing hydro to customers in a large area, including current North Bay Hydro users.
On January 21st, North Bay Council passed resolution 2013-40, which resolved that – quote – the City of North Bay is not in support of amalgamating local Hydro utilities, and petition the Premier of the Province of Ontario and Minister of Energy once the new cabinet has been announced
to meet with representatives of the impacted municipalities.
Speaker, our caucus believes, and has stated in our energy white paper, that consolidations of LDCs in Ontario should be voluntary, and encouraged through incentives. I hope the new Minister will honour the City of North Bay’s request to meet with municipalities who may be impacted.
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