COLLIN GALLANT
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A special session of City Council has been scheduled for Monday and the only thing on the agenda is an 'Energy Item.'
The agenda was made available to the media Friday, and doesn't reveal any more information.
"All we can really say beforehand is that is regarding energy," said Wilbur MacLean, spokesman for the City's Energy Division.
He added that once the announcement is made at the 5 p.m. meeting, it will become evident why the background is being kept under wraps.
Medicine Hat residents can probably not expect a cap on record high electricity prices to be pushed through on Monday — in time for February's billing cycle — according to a source at the city.
The head of the Energy Committee Ald. Ted Clugston said at a Jan. 5 meeting that the committee would hold off on examining a cap until council had a chance to weigh in on the idea. Clugston would not comment on the meeting or its purpose.
A "cap" could set the top rate at 9.87 cents per kilowatt hour — compared to the January price of 14.81 cents — representing an average savings of about $35 per household.
Such a program would require a bylaw change, and several readings at council, before an amendment could be made to the formula that sets utility prices in relation to other centres in the province.
Last week's Energy Committee open meeting was canceled.
Another possibility regarding Monday's session is a new major purchase.
In recent months the Energy Committee members have talked openly about the city's hope to diversify the gas utility, which has suffered in the doldrums of low world market prices.
Energy officials are searching for oil assets to purchase with a portion of the approximately $200 million gas-depletion fund.
The division is also investigating providing a fixed-rate option for its municipal customers.
The meeting could also have been made necessary to fill some gap in the legislation that coordinates the division.
Or the Energy Committee may want to separate out some issue from the monstrous agenda set for the next regularly scheduled council meeting on Feb. 6.
There the city budget process begins and there will likely be some information or movement on the issue of building the proposed Regional Events Centre.
The Energy Committee next meets on Feb. 9.