Saugeen Shores investment in Westario Power holdings is a solid investment but one that could stall because of provincial regulations in a so-called de-regulated industry.
Chair of Westario Power Mark Kraemer and company CEO Lisa Milne reported to Saugeen Shores council recently on their investment.
Kraemer says the town’s equity growth in the utility has grown to 6.2 million dollar last year and has shown an average 6.5 per cent increase since 2000.
He says Westario will put an amount into Saugeen Shores that will reduce the local levy by 4.5 per cent.
Kraemer says if that levy is 8 million dollars, he points out how important the asset is for Saugeen Shores.
However there are problems with regulations.
Kraemer says in order to grow, Westario must have access to capital.
In order to get that access he says we need to remove the shackles that do not allow the shareholders to either increase their equity position or remove the ownership restrictions so that the utility can access the capital markets.
Kraemer called on council for help to continue to lobby the provincial government
to continually identify the challenges the utility has in maximizing the return the town has in Westario Power.
Lisa Milne told council that almost 21 thousand customers have their smart meters in place and will kick into action this December.
