Eliminate Plans To Build A District Energy Heating System

Facts

Since 2010, the City of Surrey has been eyeing the construction of a district energy heating system, which distributes thermal energy to buildings in a specified neighbourhood.

The district energy system is being planned as a utility that will be named Surrey City Energy (SCE) and operated as a business unit within the Engineering Department.

This business unit is being established to subsidize future density, when the density needed to make such a venture financially viable is decades away.

The SCE will operate like a private energy utility, where taxpayers’ utility rates are determined by costs such as “operation, maintenance, debt repayment, debt servicing and management costs.”

The General Managers of both the City of Surrey Engineering and Finance and Technology departments acknowledge that the proposed district energy system (DES) to service future City Centre development “will require a larger capital investment than would be required with the conventional non-DES scenario.”

The capital cost of construction in addition to the ongoing operating and maintenance costs represents a significant multi-million dollar commitment.

Proposal

Immediately do away with plans to open up a city-owned and operated power utility.