OLDS — Prices that have been edging upwards lately could make things “challenging” for Mountain View Power salespeople and customers, a spokesman says.
Mountain View Power is a natural gas and electricity company owned by Olds Institute (OI).
“Probably one of the big challenges going forward for Mountain View Power is going to be the volatility of pricing in the marketplace,” Darren Wilson said during the Olds Institute’s 2021 annual general meeting, held May 11 via Zoom.
He and Everett Page oversee Mountain View Power.
“We have seen in the early months here of 2021 and certainly continuing, the wholesale price of electricity in particular is heading north, moving up,” Wilson said.
Wilson said electricity and gas prices have been “low or extremely low” for years but have been rising over the past four or five months, “hitting levels that we haven’t seen in quite some time.”
“Probably the easiest way to put that is the lows that we are seeing now for price either on a megawatt or kilowatt basis are basically the highs that we have seen previously in the last three or four or five years.”
Wilson said rising prices will be challenge for the company as it tries to compete with larger gas and electricity companies for customers, yet also provide “a package of product at a competitive rate with the social responsibility, the community responsibility that Mountain View Power has become known for.”
He said the company plans to hire more sales reps in order to build up its customer base and eventually offer solar power to customers.
Wilson also paid tribute to Greg MacIntyre, a former OI vice-president, who left the company at the end of 2020 after working for many years to build up its customer base.
“Thank you Darren, thank you Everett for taking that committee on and starting to make it move in the proper direction,” OI chair Brett Muzychka said.
