Medicine Hat’s energy future: Mayoral candidates weigh in on prospect of MCC

By ZOE MASON on October 9, 2025.

zmason@medicinehatnews.com

Ahead of Oct. 20, Medicine Hat voters want to know what mayoral candidates have in mind for the city’s energy future.

Since the last municipal election, major changes to the city’s utility rate structure, new federal emissions policies, and discussions about major investments in renewables have altered the city’s energy landscape.

As discussions about the city’s energy future became more complex and more contentious, council considered a plan to transfer management and operations of the city’s electric and natural gas utility to a municipally controlled corporation. The motion was voted down in July, but the prospect remains a hot-button issue ahead of this month’s election.

With election day approaching fast, four of the candidates in the race for mayor have answered questions from the News about how they would navigate the challenges ahead for the city’s energy division.

Mayoral candidates Andy McGrogan and Kris Samraj agree that some kind of expert management is in order.

McGrogan says he supported the MCC proposal after reviewing the KPMG report on the city’s energy business in 2024.

“My main reason for doing so was that from my experience I could see the clear need for a high level of specialized expertise to manage this increasingly complex business involving very substantial amounts of money,” he wrote in a response to the News.

McGrogan says this need remains, and the next council is obliged to find an affordable option that ensures smart and effective management of the energy division.

Samraj spoke in favour of the MCC at a public hearing in June, and he believes there are creative ways to bridge the divide with detractors.

“A skills based board and an arms length company can focus on electric generation to an extent that a municipal political council cannot,” he said.

Samraj says there are regulations that council can impose on an MCC board to ensure that perspectives are local and that the corporation remains sensitive to political opinion, but he believes that responsibility for the energy division would be better of delegated to professionals.

While mayoral candidate Drew Barnes was initially in favour of a municipally controlled corporation, he believes city residents were not sufficiently consulted.

“It became apparent that Hatters were, one, left with more questions than answers and two, that administration and council were not on the same page – a common theme of the last four years,” he said in a statement to the News.

Incumbent Linnsie Clark would also like to see the rate review committee implemented.

“I am in support of an internal mechanism for skill-based governance, especially as the energy business becomes more complex with changing policy and transition concerns,” she said in a statement to the News.

With better communication about the cost and structure of the MCC, Barnes thinks the idea could bear raising again. In the meantime, he says that a rate review committee, a proposal still under consideration by council, is a logical first step towards more transparent management of the city utility.

Mayoral candidate Alan Rose didn’t share specific thoughts on the MCC proposal, but did emphasize the need for management that prioritizes profitability.

“The energy sector needs to adopt a business model based on return on investment,” he said in a statement to the News.

Mark Fischer has yet to respond to questions from the News for the online election guide.

For more candidate responses, visit medicinehatnews.com

22
-21