The Council of Canadians Peterborough chapter opposes the possible sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI), the city-owned utility that distributes electricity in Peterborough, Lakefield and Norwood, to the provincial electricity transmission and distribution utility Hydro One.
The Peterborough Examiner reports, “An activist who doesn’t want council to sell the city-owned electrical utility to Hydro One says he can prove councillors have been privately discussing a possible deal since 2014 – even though they have said they’ve only been talking about it for nine months.”
“Roy Brady filed a Freedom of Information request asking to see any records of closed-session meetings where councillors discussed the possibility of selling PDI.”
The article highlights, “He received the documents on Monday. He said they reveal that the topic was first discussed in closed session on July 28, 2014. Brady said he was unhappy to find out that the privatization of PDI was first discussed by councillors in closed session two years ago. But he wasn’t surprised. …Mayor Daryl Bennett said Monday that it’s true councillors first started talking about the future of PDI in closed-session meetings some time in the middle of 2014.”
On Tuesday September 6, the Peterborough chapter – and many others from the community – will be at a public meeting at Market Hall to hear a presentation from Navigant, the city’s consultant on this issue, on whether the city should sell PDI.
A poll released in April found that 93 per cent of Peterborough residents oppose the sale of PDI.
For seven previous blogs that narrate the chapter’s activism against the sale of PDI back to February, please click here.