Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Council

City of Hamilton

71 Main St. West

Hamilton, Ontario

L8P 4Y5

Re: Endorsement of Horizon Utilities Merger Proposal

Your Worship and Members of Council: You know the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce well as this city’s voice of business and an active contributor to improving the vitality of this great city for all its residents.

On these bases, I wish to communicate to you that our Board and membership support the Horizon Utilities merger proposal that is before you. From the Chamber’s perspective, the merger’s merits for the City of Hamilton are many:

• In a province in which businesses are being burdened by some of the highest industrial distribution rates in North America, rates for businesses and residents alike are projected to be, on average, 5.9% lower over 25 years and 8% lower after 10 years;
• At a time when we have a significant municipal infrastructural deficit, the City of Hamilton is expected to receive higher dividends – projected to average $3.8 million more per year – as a significant shareholder of a larger utility than as a majority owner of a smaller utility;
• With our Downtown experiencing a revival, Hamilton is being designated as the headquarters for the technical and engineering executives and staff that are needed to serve the new $2.6 billion regulated utility and its almost 1 million customers (Horizon is currently $600 million in size and serves 240,000 customers). These are good paying jobs (with the prospect of more to come through future mergers) that will spend significant amounts of money in our city’s businesses.

While the corporate head office – finance, accounting, etc. – will be elsewhere, the utility head office is a major win for Hamilton because it encompasses the fundamental business operation of the utility. This has an excellent tie-in with Mohawk and McMaster for both technology and engineering employment opportunities. This utility head office will require many of the employees of the newly merged operation to convene in Hamilton on a regular basis, bringing even more business throughput in the downtown and its restaurants, hotels and other business services.

I have worked closely with Horizon Utilities leadership over the years and I am confident they are presenting a fair and balanced picture of the merger. As they are the experts of their industry, I encourage you to trust as I do, that they know what is right for their business, customers and stakeholders based on current market conditions and the prevailing trends in the industry.

Sincerely,

Keanin Loomis

President & CEO

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce

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*The letter was emailed to all members of Hamilton City Council on October 26th.

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce also released a comprehensive policy report on rising electricity costs in July. We fully support the report’s recommendations calling on the Ontario government to remove barriers and incentivize this potential consolidation through the tax system. Read more: https://www.hamiltonchamber.ca/media-release-hamilton-chamber-of-commerce-and-provincial-chamber-address-the-impact-of-rising-electricity-costs-on-business/

For more information please contact:

Huzaifa Saeed | Policy & Research Analyst | Hamilton Chamber of Commerce | 905-522-1151 ext: 230 | h.saeed@hamiltonchamber.ca

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