Approval clears the way for a new ownership arrangement, with no immediate customer changes
he Ontario Energy Board has approved the transaction that will bring Tillsonburg Hydro into ERTH Corporation, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for the deal first approved by Tillsonburg Town Council in April.
The Town announced the decision Monday, October 19, saying the OEB concluded the transaction meets its “no harm” test and is not expected to negatively affect customer prices, reliability, service quality or financial viability.
Once the transaction is completed, Tillsonburg will become ERTH Corporation’s tenth municipal shareholder and its second-largest municipal shareholder.
The expanded utility will serve approximately 60,000 electricity customers across 31 communities in seven counties.
Mayor Deb Gilvesy says the partnership will give Tillsonburg Hydro access to the greater scale, shared expertise and resources of a larger organization, while maintaining the reliable service residents expect.
For customers, there are no immediate changes. Tillsonburg Hydro will continue operating under its existing name and electricity distribution licence during the transition. ERTH Power branding will be introduced gradually.
Customers should continue paying their electricity bills as usual and can expect the same customer support and outage response.
The Town says ERTH and Tillsonburg Hydro will now work toward completing the transaction in the coming months. Customers and employees will be kept informed as plans progress.
Tillsonburg Hydro is currently owned entirely by the Town and serves approximately 8,600 customers within its 24-square-kilometre service area
