Mayor Larry O'Brien's plan to sell Hydro Ottawa is bad for the environment, bad for consumers, and doesn't make good business sense
November 13, 2007
Mayor Larry O'Brien's plan to sell Hydro Ottawa is bad from a pure business standpoint, and, if implemented, would be even worse for the environment and consumers, says Ecology Ottawa.
O'Brien says he would gain $300 million in a one-time windfall by selling Hydro Ottawa, in order to keep his property tax freeze campaign promise. But Hydro Ottawa brings in $12 million for the city each year - a figure likely to increase to $20 million annually soon - and plays an important role in promoting electricity conservation. The Mayor should know, because he recently accepted an award recognizing the conservation efforts of Ottawa's citizens.
"Most importantly, from a climate change perspective, the sale of Hydro Ottawa would be disastrous," says Ecology Ottawa's Jo Wood. "Privately owned utility companies don't support conservation, because it isn't profitable for them. They are also less likely to spend money on maintenance. We've seen the consequences of privatization in other countries - blackouts, resulting from poor maintenance. We cannot afford to take that risk."
Selling Hydro Ottawa makes it less likely we will address climate change. "We need to promote conservation and renewable energy. Wind power and solar energy should be included in Ottawa's long-term plan," says Ecology Ottawa's Mike Buckthought. "Having public control over our own hydro company makes it more likely that we can take action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases."
Ecology Ottawa would like to remind the mayor and city councillors about a recent poll conducted by the Ontario Electricity Coalition (OEC). As indicated in an OEC press release, of the 403 Ottawa households polled, "78% said they would get a lower price on electricity from a non-profit, publicly owned utility than from a private, for-profit corporation. Asked which would do the best job on energy conservation and protecting the environment, 82% said a publicly owned utility."
Instead of cutting and outsourcing services, the City should work with other levels of government to achieve sustainable funding for cities. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has long called for more support from the federal and provincial governments. And yet, the City of Ottawa, despite it's proximity to Parliament Hill and the federal government, is making next to no noise about this. In the federal government's mini budget last month, no new money was given to cities. Instead, while municipal infrastructure crumbles and public transit expansion stalls, billions of dollars of desperately needed money was spent on tax cuts.
"There's an emerging national consensus, that municipalities need a rapid and significant increase in funding from higher levels of government," says Ecology Ottawa's Trevor Haché. "Instead of fighting for more money from his friends in high places, O'Brien is suggesting we sell off one of the city's most important assets - Hydro Ottawa. That makes about as much financial sense as selling your house and then renting it back from the new owner."
