Merged hydro companies in northwestern Ontario now known as Synergy North

Two hydro companies in northwestern Ontario say they have officially merged as one and will now be known as Synergy North to serve customers both in Thunder Bay and Kenora.

Officials from Thunder Bay Hydro and Kenora Hydro made the announcement on Friday morning.

"The merger is designed to do a couple things," CEO and president of Synergy North, Robert Mace explained, "primarily, it's designed to make us, as a company, more efficient."

He added that "in due time," they expect to save approximately $800,000 to $900,000 a year, which in turn means that more than 56,000 residents and businesses in the area, will benefit.

A memorandum of understanding between the two hydro companies was signed in October 2016 and a public meeting was held in 2017 to discuss the proposed merger.

• Thunder Bay, Kenora hydro companies explore potential merger

• Kenora Hydro holds public meeting on possible merger with Thunder Bay Hydro

In January 2018, Thunder Bay council as well as Kenora council gave their stamp of approval to consolidate the two electricity utilities in northwestern Ontario.

• Two become one: Kenora, Ont. council approves merger with Thunder Bay Hydro

"By combining, we gain scale, we can eliminate redundancies — so we don't need two presidents, we don't need two VPs of finance —​ but what we do need is people to deal with regulation and people to deal with the administration side of it," Mace said, adding that the president and CEO of Kenora Hydro, Dave Sinclair, was already looking to retire when they initially began talking about the possible merger.

He said the merge was officially effective on January 1, 2019 and there will be a bit of transition to get customers onto the new web-base services.

"So if you are moving, you can do it on the web, you can call on our call centre," Mace added.

Bill amounts won't be effected, Mace said. The most immediate change will be the change in their logo.

"You are going to see the new look [and] you are going to see new 1-800 number," Mace said, adding that residents in Kenora will have the option to visit their city hall if they need to.

But he said, most customers won't notice a difference, especially if they are on an automatic payment system.

"You are not going to have to change your account. Your bill will come in, you'll look at it and life will go on."