For what it is, Manitoba Hydro's chosen route for its massive new transmission line -- along the western side of the province -- appears to be the path of least resistance.
On Thursday, Hydro officials announced that following months of public consultations in western Manitoba, the Crown corporation had tentatively chosen one of three options under consideration for its Bipole III project.
The proposed line -- Choice B -- begins just northeast of the town of Gillam, runs southwest past Thompson and The Pas to the east of the Porcupine Forest Reserve and the Duck Mountain Provincial Park, and then hugs the western shores of Lake Manitoba.
As it nears the town of St. Claude, the route takes a sharp turn east and runs south of Niverville, looping around Winnipeg's east side before stopping at a new converter station.
This route avoids several provincial parks, steers well clear of the Riding Mountain National Park region, and skirts First Nations reserves.
About one-third of the 1,350-km route will run through privately owned land and farmland, but if Hydro's estimates are accurate, the inconvenience to landowners will be minimal.
"We believe that we have selected the route with the least impact on the environment and on the communities and residents along the proposed path of the transmission line," Manitoba Hydro president and CEO Bob Brennan told CBC on Thursday, adding that the chosen route will have the least impact on agricultural land among the three alternatives.
"It takes out ... 37 acres of agricultural land," he said. "In that whole route, we thought that was excellent -- 37 acres is not very much in building a line this size."
As far as we're concerned, Hydro has made the best out of a bad situation.
It simply makes sense for a large corporation like Hydro to prefer the construction of Bipole III along the shortest and most cost-effective route, namely east of Lake Winnipeg.
But Crown corporations are subject to the whims of their political masters -- in this case the NDP government, which mandated that due to political, environmental and UNESCO designation considerations, the route would run west instead.
The west side route will be considerably longer, cost hundreds of millions of dollars more and likely sustain millions in power loss due to its longer length.
While we still believe the line should run east of Lake Winnipeg, if it must come down the west side, we believe Hydro has chosen wisely.
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition July 31, 2010 A11
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