Entegrus and St. Thomas Energy are on the road to submitting an application to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), in order to make the possibility of a merger a reality.
An information session was held at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham Tuesday night. During the session, President and CEO of Entegrus Jim Hogan told BlackburnNews.com that the two companies are now in the "due diligence phase."
"The due diligence phase is where we look at each other's companies in greater detail," says Hogan. "We learn about the contracts we all have, who our suppliers are ... just really getting into the details of our businesses and how we run things."
In addition to the administrative details, Hogan says both companies have been working to learn more about the other utility and build relationships with the employees.
An application for the merger is expected to be submitted to the OEB in May, but Hogan says it'll take about six months to hear back from them once the papers are in.
Since the announcement was made about the possible merger in December 2016, Hogan says they haven't received many comments from Entegrus customers.
"This is something that's good," he says. "This is an opportunity for us to find some additional efficiency and over a longer period of time customers should see their bills being the same if not lower."
Agreeing with the benefits of this merger was COO of St. Thomas Energy Rob Kent.
"It's a really good thing to be happening for all parties involved," says Kent. "We haven't heard any negative feedback."
Should the application by the two companies be approved by the OEB, the merger would take place in January 2018.
Additional information sessions will be held in Strathroy and St. Thomas within the next couple of weeks.
On March 23, a session will be held at the Gemini Sports Complex in Strathroy from 6:30pm-8:30pm.
On March 30, a session will be held in St. Thomas at the CASO Station from 6:30pm-8:30pm.