By: Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
Representatives of ENWIN Utilities relayed its commitment to Essex and detailed it has identified a key upgrade improvement.
ENWIN’s President and CEO, Garry Rossi, attended the Town of Essex Council meeting on Monday, February 17. He was flanked by several of his senior staffers, who he said “get all the work done” and whose teams are “critical to ensuring that the infrastructure and the people that we serve are served every day.”
This was the first public meeting with ENWIN since it and its parent company, Windsor Canada Utilities Ltd., took over E.L.K.’s operations recently. ENWIN announced it was purchasing E.L.K. from the Town of Essex last March.
In supporting the Town of Essex, Rossi said ENWIN will undertake a few key projects in the near term, including the 4KV voltage conversion upgrade, and will support the Talbot/Maidstone intersection improvement project. In the 2026 Budget, Essex Council approved the full reconstruction of the Maidstone Avenue/Talbot Street intersection for $3M.
In the short-term (one to three-years), Rossi spoke of the importance of maintaining the E.L.K. operations centre presence in town to create stability for customers and employees, and to provide enhanced customer communications.
Rossi also spoke of the Integrated Transition Plan, which the team has been working on since September to ensure there is no disruption to service quality or delivery, that ENWIN has a 24/7 control room, and evidence-based capital planning will determine where critical infrastructure needs to be implemented and maintained.
In the five-ten-year plan, Rossi spoke of strengthening grid reliability through strategic automation investments. Building that automation out into the area requires a lot of core infrastructure.
ENWIN will prioritize the preventative maintenance programs and enhance outage monitoring in the future through advanced technology and communications. Rossi noted ENWIN is spending just over $4M currently upgrading its own system, so that when it is time to turn E.L.K. into that system, it’ll be ready.
The long-term plan also includes being able to support growth in the region, ensuring that when Essex needs service in a certain area, it is there to support that.
Supporting the Town is very important, Rossi added. He noted there is a local community commitment contribution, guided by the joint advisory committee. Essex Council appointed who will be on that committee at the February 2 meeting, appointing Councillor Rodney Hammond, Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey, Kingsville Deputy Mayor Kim DeYong, and two Essex residents/E.L.K customers – to the Windsor Canada Utilities Ltd. Advisory Committee. This will be for a term of one year, expiring on February 28, 2027.
A primary objective of the committee is to make annual funding recommendations regarding Windsor Canada Utilities’ commitment to provide $350,000 in donations over around five-years to help fund local community initiatives within Lakeshore, Kingsville, and Essex.
“We are looking forward to working with that to get feedback to know what’s important in your community, so we can deliver on those promises,” Rossi said.
That advisory committee, Rossi told the Essex Free Press, will help ENWIN understand the needs of what each community requires, and will help to build the utility’s infrastructure plans to be best prepared to deliver. He said there is a lot of development occurring in southwestern Ontario.
He also told the Essex Free Press that ENWIN is aware of the power flickers often experienced in Essex. Though residents will likely not notice an immediate improvement in reducing those, ENWIN is hoping to improve the communication around them.
“We have to build the building blocks of a sound base, so that when we have that sound base of infrastructure, then we can build in automation and do all those great things that help reduce those – or eliminates those – sorts of outages that they are experiencing today,” Rossi noted, adding a lot of it comes down to good, preventative maintenance, as well.
In addition, Rossi noted ENWIN plans to host a tour of its facility this spring, hoping Town staff and Council will learn more about the utility.
“We are definitely here to support the Town, as well as the community that it serves. As you look at our history, you’ll see that is what ENWIN is all about. It’s about connecting communities, building reliable infrastructure, [and] making sure it is there for the long-term, so that we support everyone we are serving.”
Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley said he and Mayor Sherry Bondy have gotten to know members of the ENWIN team for the past few months. It is nice to know the E.L.K. team will be part of ENWIN with that big backstop there.
“I can’t wait to see what you bring to the Town and all the benefits that come along with having this larger team,” he said.
Bondy hoped ENWIN could provide an outage map for residents. Rossi said ENWIN is working on something that it may be able to provide to residents. It won’t be as sophisticated as its current outage map. The team is hoping to provide something like that this year.
“The most important thing during an outage is knowing that we are aware of it. If they know we are aware of it, I can guarantee you we are on top of it,” Rossi assured.
Outages or concerns, for now, can still be reported through the E.L.K. website or through ENWIN’s customer service department. The transition will be multi-year to ensure it is a smooth process.
The presentation Rossi provided will be posted to the Town of Essex website.