London Hydro ends merger talks

A month after London first learned London Hydro was in merger talks with another utility, those discussions have ended.

London Hydro has confirmed to AM980 they made a competitive offer but were not successful and that no talks are currently underway.

Officials never said who they were negotiating with, but it’s believed their target was St. Thomas Energy, who just agreed to a deal with Entegrus Powerlines Inc. in Chatham-Kent.

Tom Adams is an independent energy analyst, he said London Hydro is one of the better run utilities in the province.

“There’s quite a bit of comparison possible by bench-marking one against the other,” he said. “London Hydro tends to prove out quite well across the board, including on it’s distribution rates.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's quite a bit of comparison possible by bench-marking one against the other," he said. "London Hydro tends to prove out quite well across the board, including on it's distribution rates."

Adams notes not completing a merger isn’t necessarily a bad thing, adding bigger isn’t always better.

“There certainly is a concern on the customer’s part if you are served today by one of the lower cost but smaller distribution utilities that gets swallowed up by Hydro One,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There certainly is a concern on the customer's part if you are served today by one of the lower cost but smaller distribution utilities that gets swallowed up by Hydro One," he said.