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Originally Posted by algernon
I'm undecided right now, as I'm not sure that Nenshi won't sell Enmax. I think it's better for our city to control our power (and make profit to boot?), but maybe I've missed a promise he's made recently to hold on to it.
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Still this, eh? Nenshi's position is that he likes Calgary onwning Enmax because it allows the city to do things that private enterprise might not. It's the issue that first got him into politics (he argued against selling it). Of course, he's also said that if someone made him a crazy high offer he'd have to consider it, which I don't think is unreasonable.
http://www.nenshi.ca/new/2010/462
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I started my foray into municipal politics by co-writing a paper opposing the sale of Enmax back in 2001. Using basic valuation techniques that every undergraduate business student is familiar with, I realized that the City was proposing to sell Enmax for less than it was worth. That paper played a key role in killing the deal. In fact, Alderman Hawkesworth quoted that paper at a City Council meeting about this issue! To now accuse me of wanting to sell Enmax is not only wrong, it’s misleading. Here is what I have said about Enmax:
- My bias is to keep Enmax. I believe that Enmax provides financial value to the citizens of Calgary by paying a healthy dividend to the City. I would rather have the profits stay in Calgary rather than go to a distant shareholder.
- The market for electrical generation is changing. By keeping Enmax, the City has some ability to influence the shift in power generation to greener and more distributed generation.
- There is a caveat, however. We must understand Enmax’s plan to deal with its debt and ensure that it does not present a risk to Calgary taxpayers.
- Finally, if someone were to make a serious offer for Enmax, we would have to consider whether that offer is in the best interest of Calgary taxpayers from both a policy and financial perspective. No such offer is on the table nor would I solicit one.
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