Aurora Energy is not for sale.
The Dunedin City Council decided this afternoon to retain the company.
The vote was passed 13-2 and greeted by a ripple of applause from a packed public gallery.
In the end, any momentum for a possible sale collapsed under the weight of strong public feedback against it.
The resolution to keep the company was moved by Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich.
Feedback from residents had been clear, he said.
"They are simply not ready to sell. Perhaps in the future that might change, but not today."
Mr Radich said many ratepayers viewed the company as a strategic asset and they wanted it retained for the long term.
It would grow in value, he said.
However, the choice would not ease pressure on rates and it might force tightening of the belt, he said.
Cr Lee Vandervis said it was the wrong decision, as it would increase debt and rates.
The matter would need to be revisited "in a few short years".
Cr Marie Laufiso said the decision was a test in values.
She rejected economic neoliberalism, including privatisation of assets.
Crs Sophie Barker and Christine Garey said public feedback had been loud and clear.
"This is democracy at work," Cr Garey said.
Aurora distributes electricity to Dunedin, Central Otago, Wānaka and Queenstown.
Any sale price had been tipped to comfortably exceed $1 billion. This would have allowed the council to set up a diversified fund worth hundreds of millions of dollars, providing an alternative revenue stream to rates.
Dunedin deputy mayor Cherry Lucas said this could have reduced risk for the council.
Aurora was profitable, but it would require a significant capital spend into the future, funded by debt.
Rates would not have to increase as much if the council sold the company, she said.
"People are already finding it hard to pay the rates."
Cr David Benson-Pope said world markets were volatile and confidence about reliable returns coming from a fund had to be open to question.
Had the public voice not been so clearly articulated, the outcome of the vote might have been different, he said.
Aurora is the largest trading company in the Dunedin City Holdings (DCHL) group, which is owned by the council.
DCHL had recommended a sale.
The council pitched a proposal to the public in March this year for a possible sale. It received more than 750 submissions and held a public hearing in May.
There had since been workshops run by DCHL and council staff, while public opposition to a sale remained determined.
Cr Bill Acklin thanked DCHL for its professionalism.
Cr Acklin said he had initially bought into the idea of selling the company because the council was in financial strife.
Listening to the ratepayers was his first duty, he said.
Cr Andrew Whiley said he ended up coming to the conclusion retaining Aurora was in the best interests of the city.
He would not be against a partial float of the company.
Crs Lucas and Vandervis voted against the resolution to retain the company.
