​Westario Power announces proposed sale to ERTH to meet growing energy demands

Westario Power’s board of directors announced Monday its intentions regarding a sale of Westario Power to ERTH Corporation, and the board’s recommendation to shareholders to approve the sale.

“We are confident this sale will benefit our customers, employees and the communities we serve by making sure the utility can meet the demands of electrification, growth and climate change,” said chairman Luke Charbonneau, mayor of Saugeen Shores. “We had the opportunity to take our time and carefully consider many options, and with the support of a steering committee and expert working groups to hear from many interested buyers, before determining that a sale to ERTH would be the right choice for our staff, customers and shareholders.”

Should the sale be approved, it will:
 

• Protect the jobs of Westario employees 
• Maintain customer electricity rates and only increase at the rate of inflation 
• Maintain Westario’s high standard of service for response times and restoring service outages
• Maintain the administration and operations facility as the central operations facility for the Westario service territory 
• Provide a 24-hour emergency remote control room that responds to power outages and electrical emergencies at any time
• Continue partnerships and collaborations with local community charities and partners

ERTH will establish an advisory committee for a one-year period following the closing of the proposed transaction to provide ongoing communication between Westario and ERTH. The advisory committee will meet to review the impacts and implementation of the sale to ensure Westario communities are continuing to receive excellent service. 

Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator estimates the demand for electricity will increase by 75 per cent over the next 25 years. The demand is being driven by the electrification of manufacturing, AI data centres, electric vehicles and other electric devices in a growing population. The board’s decision to sell Westario Power is part of a broader provincial trend to consolidate small utilities to ensure they can meet rising electricity demands, ensure stable rates and respond quickly to power outages amid unpredictable weather in a changing climate.

“We did not make this decision lightly,” said Walter Malcolm, Westario’s president and chief executive officer. “We had some non-negotiables in terms of a sale. We had to be sure that customer rates would be kept at existing levels and that our high level of service would be maintained. One thing was critical, we needed to protect the jobs of our highly-skilled Westario staff.”

For Westario Power customers, there is very little change in the near future:
 

• Westario customers will continue to receive bills from Westario Power.
• Rates will only increase at the rate of inflation as they would have under Westario Power.
• Westario customers will continue to receive the same high standards of service for response times and restoring outages.
• Both line and office staff will be maintained, along with the administration office and operations facility.
• ERTH Power is in the process of expanding its remote control room with the goal of providing 24/7 remote emergency service across the region to shorten outages when they happen.
• Customers will receive regular updates as the transaction progresses.

The sale agreement would be executed by all parties, following Westario shareholders’ approval over the next few weeks. However, the closing of the transaction would still need to be approved by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). In assessing the transaction, the OEB applies a "no-harm" test. This test assesses any transaction to ensure the proposed changes will not result in higher costs or reduced service quality for consumers.