City of Belleville, Ontario Invests in The Future of Its Hydro Consumers

City Officials recently inked their investment in Veridian Corporation, one of Ontario's leading energy companies. During a ceremony held at the Belleville Utilities building, Mayor George Zegouras and Councillor Doug Parker formally accepted the shares from Veridian officials, giving the City a 13.3 % interest in the company.

"I am very excited about the City's ownership in Veridian Corporation," said Mayor Zegouras. "Unlike a lot of municipalities that have sold their electric utilities we will continue to have a significant influence over the delivery of electricity in this community. It is simply too important a service to abandon to outside interests. We have become acquainted with the Management and Board of Directors at Veridian and we appreciate their entrepreneurial style. This company is bound to bring value to the City and produce a solid revenue stream."

Councillor Doug Parker who has been named as Belleville's Director on the Veridian Corporation Board expressed confidence in Veridian's ability to function in the new deregulated environment. "Veridian Corporation now serves some 90,000 customers in Eastern Ontario providing service to Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, Port Hope, Uxbridge, Brock and Belleville" said Councillor Parker. "With a capitalization of $130.95 million and 145 employees, they are certainly one of Ontario's largest power distribution utilities and very well positioned to participate in the new market environment once customers have full choice as to their supplier."

Veridian Corporation was in the news last week when it announced its entry into the competitive electricity market, which is due to open next spring. Last Tuesday it launched First Source, a joint venture with Enersource Hydro Mississauga. First Source will offer residential and business customers fixed rate electricity prices that will provide protection from the volatility of spot market prices. The company's initial offering is a guaranteed three- year fixed price contract for residential customers.

On hand to mark the new relationship with the City of Belleville were Veridian's Chairman of the Board, Jim Mason and Veridian's President and CEO, John Wiersma. Members of City Council and Veridian's Belleville employees were also in attendance. "We are committed to continuing the strong tradition of excellent service which was provided by the Belleville Utilities Commission," said John Wiersma. "The same dedicated employees who have kept the lights on over the years will continue to do so under the capable leadership of Belleville's Regional Manager Rod Hinze. We look forward to working with the City and our new customers."

Veridian Corporation will run its local operations centre out of the Belleville Utilities Building at Sidney and College Streets. The building will be jointly occupied with Belleville Utilities, which will continue to provide municipal water services to the Belleville area.

The share transfer ceremony marked the end of an era for Belleville Utilities, but signaled an exciting new business relationship that will deliver benefits to the City of Belleville and its electricity customers.

About Veridian Veridian Corporation was formed in 1999 from the merger of the Ajax, Clarington and Pickering Hydro-Electric Commissions. Since that time, the corporation has expanded to reach almost 90,000 customers through acquisitions of customers within the communities of Brock, Port Hope and Uxbridge and the recent merger with Belleville Utilities. Veridian Corporation operates its regulated power distribution activities under its subsidiary company Veridian Connections Inc. A second subsidiary company, Veridian Energy Inc., offers a variety of business-to-business services to Ontario's energy and telecommunications sectors.

Veridian's 43% share in First Source is directly held through its parent company, Veridian Corporation. Veridian Corporation continues to pursue other partnership opportunities and business acquisitions among area electricity distributors; a strategy that the corporation believes will enable it to achieve greater economies of scale to better serve customers.