Calgary’s mayor has proposed expanding Enmax’s remit while insisting enmax itself will not be sold, and suggested the municipally owned utility could take over the city’s troubled water system as councillors consider whether parts of the company could help finance repairs.
Enmax Expansion Plan Draws Scrutiny
Mayor Jeromy Farkas has been emphatic that Enmax will not go on the market, saying there is “absolutely no way” the utility would be sold. At the same time, he has outlined a plan to expand the corporation’s role: merging the utility with the city’s water operations so the same organization would manage both the electricity business and capital projects for the water system.
The mayor presented the idea as a way to bring independent, expert management to a water system that was the subject of a critical independent review after the Bearspaw pipeline failure. Those recommendations called for independent oversight and expert management of the water utility, and Farkas has committed to adopting that review panel’s recommendations in full, including restructuring options that would create a wholly owned subsidiary similar to Enmax.
Versant Power Review Emerges As Potential Funding Source
Councillors have been discussing options for the city’s utility holdings in private sessions, and there is increasing attention on Versant Power, the Maine-regulated company owned by the city’s wholly owned utility. No sale is imminent, though there is a movement to evaluate whether parts of the utility could be worth divesting to help cover mounting water infrastructure costs or to bolster the property tax base.
Enmax acquired the Versant unit from Emera in transactions described as totaling $1. 8 billion, structured as $1. 29 billion plus $500 million of debt. The company later provided $15 million to support a non-profit campaign opposing an effort to create a consumer-owned utility in Maine. Estimates circulated within the discussion place Versant’s potential value at as much as $2 billion, which some see as a possible source of funds for Calgary’s ailing water system.
Enmax has stated there has been no discussion at the board level about divesting Versant. Mayor Farkas has said he is not actively pushing for a sale of Enmax, but that council must ask questions around valuation, value for money and whether a demonstrable business case exists for continuing ownership of particular assets. He has expressed concern about scope creep when a single owner is balancing two different rate bases and regulatory regimes.
Bearspaw Review Shapes Proposal For Water Management
The Bearspaw independent review panel recommended spinning the water utility into a structure with independent oversight and expert management, a recommendation that has become central to the mayor’s proposal. Farkas has proposed adopting those recommendations in full, including converting the water operation into a wholly owned subsidiary analogous to the existing utility model.
Supporters of retaining the current structure point to the profitable regulated portions of the utility’s portfolio and warn that offloading assets could reduce future earnings. Opponents of a sale or asset reallocation caution that serving two widely different customer bases in separate jurisdictions complicates focus and governance.
Looking ahead, council deliberations are expected to center on whether a partial asset review could unlock funds for water capital work without relinquishing municipal control of the overarching utility. Debates will likely weigh the financial value of the U. S. unit against operational risks and the political implications of any move to reorganize or divest holdings. For now, the mayor’s stance combines a firm rejection of selling the utility outright with openness to conversations about the configuration of its assets and the possibility of using them to address Calgary’s water challenges.
