Edmonton’s infrastructure held up well despite record-breaking rainfall: EPCOR
Posted August 25, 2026 12:45 pm.
Last Updated August 25, 2026 12:43 pm.
Edmonton saw a record amount of rainfall this summer, causing flooding on some major streets.
On Monday, the city’s utility provider, EPCOR, provided an update about how their infrastructure held up during that stormy summer.
But could Edmontonians be paying more on their utility bills for storm system upgrades?
“A lot of our infrastructure held up the way we had envisioned it to,” said Mayor Andrew Knack. “Obviously there’s still more work to do. Not every area held up exactly the way we wanted it to.”
EPCOR, speaking to councillors Monday, said with flooding on some city streets earlier this summer following a massive amount of rain in June and July, city infrastructure did take some damage.
RELATED: Thunderstorm causes power outages, road closures and flooding in Edmonton
“We had a number of sinkholes around the city, so we know approximately we have to invest about $10-$15 million to repair that infrastructure,” said Craig Bonneville, vice-president of planning, projects and engineering at EPCOR.
EPCOR tells CityNews it will be coming back to council later with more data on how the rain fully impacted their operations. Despite flooded roads, EPCOR says its drainage systems performed well given the circumstances.
“It is expected that there be some ponding on roadways,” Bonneville said. “Roadways are designed to hold a certain amount of water, and that just allows time for the pipes to discharge their flows and the water.
“So while it may seem like to a resident that something isn’t working, to a degree it’s how it’s designed.”
For now, EPCOR is tasked with looking into how much it would cost to speed up their 20-year integrated stormwater plan upgrades.
Councillor Keren Tang says early next year Edmontonians should keep their eyes open for a potential rate change for their utility services.
“People can expect a rate change…” Tang said. “It will be sometime next year because EPCOR still has to submit their full application in November, and then the committee will have some time to dig into that next year. But sometime in the spring.”
EPCOR will come back to council with numbers on how much it will cost to upgrade storm drainage in early 2027.
