Does your water heater need to be replaced?
Friday, November 20th, 2009
You have a rented water heater and you pay monthly fees on your gas bill. But Ontario’s gas utilities are no longer in the water heater rental business. Enbridge sold its portfolio to Direct Energy and Union Gas sold to Reliance Home Comfort.
Recently, new competitors are trying to grab the business away. The two legacy firms are losing market share and they’re not happy.
Direct Energy, in particular, has a strong motive to cover its assets. In 2002, it set up the Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund, which gives investors 65 per cent of the rental revenues, while Direct Energy gets the remaining 35 per cent for life-cycle support.
“The Fund generates very stable cash flow, making it ideally suited to the income trust structure,” ..read more