The head of city-owned Enmax was at city hall Wednesday to meet with City of Calgary representatives, the mayor and councillors to discuss the implications of an upcoming referendum in Maine.
The meeting comes after revelations that Enmax has sent $7.5 million to a U.S.-based non-profit so far this year to campaign for the opposition in the referendum, which asks Mainers whether it should create a publicly owned power utility and replace the state’s two largest privately owned power companies, including Enmax-owned Versant Power.
The non-profit, called Maine Energy Progress, was founded by Enmax and Versant Power, according to the Maine Ethics Commissioner.
“We’re opposed to the proposition mainly because we believe it’s not in the best interest of customers in the state of Maine,” Enmax president and CEO Mark Poweska told reporters. “It will not lead to better reliability, better service or lower costs.”
Poweska reiterated that none of the costs of running the campaign would be brought onto customers in Calgary or in Maine.
Spending the money on opposition campaigning is about informing voters in Maine, according to the Enmax president.
“We believe that voters and customers need to be informed on what this ballot initiative is about and what the possible outcomes are, including the risks and opportunities,” Poweska said. “It’s our obligation and when I say ours, it’s really our team at Versant in Maine leading this campaign.”
Calgary’s mayor and city councillors had a chance to ask Enmax representatives about the campaign during a closed-door shareholder meeting Wednesday morning at city hall.
Although the City of Calgary owns Enmax and is its sole shareholder, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said city council does not have any control over Enmax’s operations or how the organization spends its money.
“Council is not the board of directors for Enmax,” Gondek said following the meeting. “We’re the shareholder. We don’t direct Enmax, we don’t make operating decisions, so for that reason I think it’s really important that Calgarians hear directly from Enmax on this one.”
On Tuesday, several city councillors told reporters they’re not concerned with Enmax’s opposition efforts in the Maine referendum and that the city-owned utility is protecting its investment in the Maine-based power company.
Enmax purchased Versant Power three years ago in a deal that was valued at $1.8 billion.
In a statement to Global News last week, Enmax said it would be entitled to fair market value for Versant Power if Mainers vote in favour of moving to a publicly owned power utility.
It remains unclear how the loss of Versant Power would impact Enmax or the City of Calgary, but Enmax’s website said the dividend it pays annually to the city is calculated based on net earnings. That dividend was $82 million in 2023.
“We believe Versant Power is best positioned to continue to provide customers with safe and reliable power now and into the future,” Enmax said in an updated statement to Global News. “Enmax’s view is that this is a good investment that will have long-term benefits on both sides of the border.”
Enmax previously told Global News that fees and rates were not affected by its purchase or operations of Versant Power.
Mainers go to the polls in the referendum on the future of its electrical grid on Nov. 7.
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