CALGARY (Azat TV) – Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is pushing for a significant structural overhaul of the city’s utility operations following the critical failure of the Bearspaw pipeline. The mayor has formally proposed that Enmax, the city’s municipally owned utility, assume management of Calgary’s water system to provide the independent, expert oversight demanded by recent third-party reviews.
Expanding the Enmax Mandate
The proposal seeks to transform the city’s water operations by adopting a structure similar to Enmax’s current model, effectively creating a wholly owned subsidiary to manage capital projects and day-to-day services. Mayor Farkas emphasized that while he remains firmly opposed to selling Enmax outright, he believes the utility’s existing management expertise could address the systemic issues highlighted by the Bearspaw incident. By integrating water management under the same corporate umbrella as electricity, the city aims to professionalize the delivery of essential infrastructure services.
Evaluating the Versant Power Portfolio
Central to the mayor’s proposal is a pointed inquiry into the city’s asset configuration, specifically regarding Versant Power, the Maine-regulated utility owned by Enmax. As city council members debate how to finance necessary water infrastructure repairs, some have turned their attention to the U.S.-based subsidiary as a potential source of liquidity. Enmax acquired the unit from Emera in a deal valued at approximately $1.8 billion, and current market estimates suggest the asset could be worth as much as $2 billion.
The Stakes of Utility Divestment
The debate places the need for immediate infrastructure funding against the long-term revenue generated by Enmax’s regulated assets. While some council members argue that divesting Versant could provide the capital needed to modernize the water system without raising taxes, others caution against losing a profitable international stream of income. Enmax has maintained that there are no active discussions at the board level regarding a sale, but Mayor Farkas insists that the city has a fiduciary responsibility to evaluate whether the current bundled asset structure remains in the best interest of Calgary taxpayers.
The proposed reorganization reflects a growing municipal trend of re-evaluating utility governance models in response to infrastructure failures, highlighting the inherent tension between maintaining control over public assets and leveraging them to solve immediate fiscal challenges.