During the summer of 2023 it became very obvious that Medicine Hat City Council and Administration needed some sort of watchdog in their decision making, as well as a voice in advocacy for the Medicine Hat residents. This was when City Council decided that 35 cents per kilowatt hour would be reasonable to charge their citizens for electricity in their homes!

In late August that year, in a packed community meeting at Higdon Hall, citizens joined together to stand up, speak up, and voice their disapproval to council!  This changed everything — citizens stood together and described the significant financial hardship that council had caused to our citizens and business owners.  A council who made uneducated financial decisions that harmed all citizens. That night this group of citizens changed our future. 

Within a couple of weeks of that instrumental meeting, energy rates were reduced, AND the city arranged to reimburse all ratepayers what they had been overcharged, to the tune of $33.2 Million dollars! 

 That moment proved the power of citizens voices. It also showed why our city needs a watchdog to ensure our city council remain transparent and accountable.

Armed with the knowledge that, among many other things, our Energy Division is the ONLY municipality in Alberta that is exempt from the oversight of the Alberta Utilities Commission, and that City Hall had reaped record profits of over $100 Million dollars, partly on the backs of its own citizens, a group of citizens set out to establish the Medicine Hat Utilities Ratepayer Association(MHURA).  

This was registered as an Alberta non-profit association, a Board of Directors was established and they, plus hundreds of members, have stayed true to being a watchdog on the City Council and Administration, to keep an eye on what THEY continue to spend YOUR money on. 

Although we continue as MHURA, we are united with all citizens, thus we are now the Medicine Hat UNITED Ratepayers Association!

Your City. Your Voice. Your Watchdog