Kevin Gilbert was one councillor who argued the council had to take a serious look at possibilities.
"There were legitimate benefits to both the option of selling Aurora and in keeping it," he said.
Cr Brent Weatherall was another.
"The mammoth exercise for councillors and residents was extremely cost-effective considering the magnitude of the city’s most valuable organisation and large public consultation process," he said.
Now that the decision had been made not to sell, the city would have to "live with Aurora’s minimal forecast cash return dividends for at least the next 10 years".
"It will be a bitter pill to swallow for ratepayers, increasing bills for years to come," Cr Weatherall said.
Cr Andrew Whiley said it was a costly but valuable exercise, enhancing awareness.
"I doubt anyone except the Aurora board and employees would have truly appreciated the value and growth opportunities that Aurora had," he said.
Aurora distributes electricity to Dunedin, Central Otago, Wānaka and Queenstown.
A possible sale was pitched to the public in March this year and the company was tipped to fetch a price above $1 billion, but the final call from the city council in September was to retain ownership.
A series of reports were commissioned by council-owned Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) in the interim and the council’s decision to keep Aurora came after unrelenting public opposition to a sale.
Aurora is DCHL’s largest trading company and most of the cost of the process — including engaging consultants — fell on DCHL.
Costs for DCHL tallied $175,185 and were $67,658 for the council, the council said in response to a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request.
The combined total of $242,843 included covering the costs of consultancy reports by Mafic Partners, Sapere Research Group and TX1 Insight, and a workshop led by DCHL on July 1.
It did not include council staff time.
Cr Sophie Barker said Aurora was a large and important city asset, "so it was absolutely necessary to get solid advice when making a ‘billion-dollar decision’ like this one".
"Once the proposal had come forward, I believe it was vital that we were presented with the best available information on which to base any decisions," she said.
Cr Barker said additional information led to a more robust process.
Cr Lee Vandervis said the exercise was worth it, as it highlighted financing challenges, such as Aurora’s need to debt-fund growth in Central Otago.
"The very strong financial advantages revealed by the Aurora sale proposal exercise may yet overpower public emotional attachment to ‘the family silver’ and help pave the way for a sale by a future council that has greater public trust in not frittering the sale proceeds away."
Cr Steve Walker said people would look back with relief that there was no sale.
Businessman Andrew Simms said a detailed process was called for.
He noted the extra consultancy reports were commissioned "after the initial public consultation phase during which very strong public opposition to the sale of Aurora had emerged".
Mr Simms characterised this part of the process as suiting the needs of people who wanted Aurora sold and it "appears to have trebled the cost of the exercise".
It also hardened the resolve of the community towards retaining Aurora, he said.
Businessman Ted Daniels said he was disappointed by the amount of money spent on the proposal, "as it was already clear from the start it was a bad idea to sell".
Tax consultant Raewynne Pedofski was pleased the council still owned Aurora but she said issues remained, such as council debt levels.
At a glance
Legal fees: $36,497
Printing: $6670
Mafic consultancy: $102,163
Sapere consultancy: $45,839
TX1 consultancy: $20,213
Other consultancy: $23,300
Travel and accommodation: $8161
Total: $242,843
