Council recently heard an argument against approving a municipal franchise agreement bylaw with FortisAlberta to ensure people have other options to consider.
“The asking point of this evening is simply to make you aware that if you are presented with a request to pass a bylaw by FortisAlberta, in our opinion, you’re not required to do that,” Brian Hennings, general counsel with EQUS, said during a presentation to council at the Oct. 7 meeting.
The bylaw Hennings referred to was to prohibit other persons from providing electric distribution service within the legal boundaries of a municipality.
Hennings offered some historical insight on the company and Rural Electrification Associations (REA) — which decades ago played a part in connecting rural Alberta communities to the power grid. He said EQUS, the largest member owned utility in Canada, recently celebrated its 70th anniversary of providing electric distribution services to commercial and industrial developments, oil and gas operations, telecommunications towers, production facilities and farms.
In 2016, EQUS entered into a new integrated operation agreement with Fortis. The companies, he said, operate in a somewhat unique service area that overlaps and enables both to serve patrons in geographic service area.
Customers located in annexed service boundaries of towns, villages and cities within EQUS’s service area could end up having to transfer to Fortis, which EQUS contested unsuccessfully with the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). Ultimately, he said the company pursued its case through the Alberta Court of Appeal, also to no avail.
“Founded in that work was our belief that if an individual is a member of an REA today, they ought to have the choice as to when, where and how they choose to leave, if they choose to leave at all.”
While EQUS has accepted the outcome of its challenges and appeals, the company nevertheless sought to raise awareness among municipal councils that there is no requirement to pass a bylaw, he said.
Seeking legal advice as it regards to the contents of municipal franchise agreements is up to individual councils, “But there’s nothing (in the AUC’s decision) compelling, at least in our opinion, to pass a bylaw in a particular timeframe, or at all,” he said, concluding his presentation by saying customers should not have their choice taken away.
Mayor Terry Leslie, directing an inquiry to chief administrative officer Linda Nelson, wondered whether any such requests to pass a municipal franchise agreement bylaw had been received.
“We have had discussions on a bylaw with Fortis,” confirmed Nelson.
“But we are not prepared to make any decisions until we do a bit of further research,” she added.
Coun. Cheri Funke asked Hennings how many members EQUS has in Sundre.
“Our last count was two,” said Hennings.
“But I believe that is a profound statement as to how important each and every member is to us. We don’t treat our members as a number.”
Leslie also inquired if EQUS has rates comparable with Fortis.
Based on the information at his disposal, Hennings said, “On everything but residential services, we meet or are slightly lower than Fortis on an equivalent service within a certain map.”
The mayor expressed gratitude for the information Hennings provided, and council carried a motion accepting the presentation as information.
