Miffed mayor slams Enwave for not contributing to $11.5M cost for boilers in city buildings before steam pipe shuts down

The City of London says that Enwave Energy should be paying the cost of replacing heat sources after the company decommissioned the existing steam line.

Mayor Josh Morgan took aim at Enwave, the owner of London District Energy, for not contributing towards the cost of installing new boiler systems inside City Hall, Centennial Hall, Museum London, and the Central Library, ahead of an Oct. 31 deadline when the company plans to decommission its medium-pressure steam pipe running through part of the downtown.

On Tuesday, Council approved a staff report that estimates installing boiler systems in the four municipal buildings will require $11 million, plus a $500,000 contingency.

“Enwave should be paying these costs, not us, and that’s my expectation of them. Do we have any legislative ability to make them, we don’t. But it’s still the right thing (for Enwave) to do,” Morgan told colleagues.

The estimated costs to install boilers and boiler rooms:

• Museum London: $2,455,534
• Central Library: $3,272,059
• City Hall: $2,855,333
• Centennial Hall: $2,383,810

City staff will source the funding from several reserve accounts.

“Every time we spend a dollar on something like this, we don’t have a dollar to spend on The Downtown Plan when it comes forward, or the Economic Development Plan, or on fixing roads or sewers or parks or bridges. This is a significant amount of money!” Morgan added.

Enwave’s firm deadline coincides with the arrival of wintery weather.

Coun. Sam Trosow acknowledged the predicament.

“We’ve really been treated very poorly here. And we’re being backed into a corner where we have to make what I think are very excessive, expensive decisions,” he said.

Many private buildings, including some that contain residential units and condos, face the same tight timeline to design and install in-building heating systems before cold weather arrives this fall.

In 2025, Enwave indicated that some sections of its steam system are becoming increasingly unreliable and could present safety concerns in the future.

The medium-pressure steam pipe provides heat and humidity to a swath of buildings in downtown London, primarily along stretches of Wellington Street and Queens Avenue.

Morgan suggested he will take his concerns to the province.

“It’s completely unacceptable, so I will continue to be very clear with Enwave, and I will continue to advocate to the province to say, this is not a situation that any major downtown should have to face,” he said.