Earlier today, Chestermere City Council officially closed the doors on Chestermere Utilities Incorporated (CUI).
“Today, we mark the end of CUI,” says Chestermere Mayor Marshall Chalmers. “Our community asked us to find a better path forward for utility services in Chestermere. This marks the end of CUI’s existence as we know it and the beginning of the City of Chestermere managing utilities for our community.”
To mark the occasion, City Council met in front of the CUI building and ceremonially removed the now defunct company’s logo from the exterior.
“Since our decision in June to take back control of utilities, staff have been working hard to wind down CUI and transition services to the City of Chestermere. As of today, the municipality will now oversee utility services for Chestermere. This means that the people serving the residents will be accountable to the residents,” says Mayor Chalmers.
Although it is a significant change in management, Chalmers says that residents should not experience any disruption in services. The only tangible changes to homeowners are that bills will now come from the City of Chestermere and utility inquiries will need to be made at City Hall, not the CUI building.
The process to make major changes to local utility services began from Council’s very first days in office in 2017. Following months of detailed work to explore the best path forward, Council decided that the municipality would take back control of all utility services. By doing so and retaining a shell/hybrid corporation to hold the debt CUI had incurred, City Council was able to approve an 8% drop in utility rates this past July.
“This has been our priority from day one,” says Deputy Mayor Ritesh Narayan. “At every juncture, we wanted to keep pushing ahead to untangle the multitude of issues facing CUI. I am delighted to be here today to help celebrate the conclusion of this saga.”
Residents can find more information about changes at www.chestermere.ca/utilities, contact City Hall at 403-207-7070 or email utilities@chestermere.ca.