Utility share sell-off on table at closed session of Ontario city council Wednesday [Video]

Pickering will have another look at selling its 27.9 per cent share in Elexicon Energy at a closed session of council Wednesday.

The issue came up in November and Pickering CAO Marisa Carpino and Mark Rodgers, a partner with Toronto law firm Borden Ladner Gervais, will provide another update on the process at a Wednesday morning in-camera meeting.

Rodgers’ law firm, which specializes in commercial, regulatory and government relations components of electricity and natural gas markets, was contracted by both Pickering and the Town of Ajax to undertake a confidential exploration of the sale of their Elexicon holdings last summer.

Ajax holds a 21.8 per cent share.

Mark Guinto, who heads up Pickering’s Public Affairs and Corporate Communications division, said last year the city was exploring the merits of a potential sale because ownership of an electric utility is “not a core service or responsibility” of municipalities.

“The city has a responsibility to evaluate its assets to …