Province, feds make $476M Hydro investment

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/11/2023 (1035 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A joint federal-provincial investment in Manitoba Hydro worth $475.6 million announced Thursday will allow for new turbines to be installed at the Pointe du Bois Generating Station as well as build a new 230-kilovolt transmission network in the Portage la Prairie area benefitting southwestern Manitoba.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland travelled to Winnipeg to make the announcement with Premier Wab Kinew.

The transmission network, valued at $161.6 million, will reduce Manitoba Hydro’s reliance on the Brandon Generating Station by 37 per cent, improve reliability for customers in southwest Manitoba and help the Crown corporation meet rising demand, the provincial government said in a media release.

The Brandon Generating Station is the only fossil-fuel-powered generating station still used by Manitoba Hydro.

The $314 million being spent at Pointe du Bois will install eight new hydroelectric turbines to replace units reaching the end of their life span. This, the release said, will improve the station’s generating capacity by 52 megawatts.

The Brandon Generating Station originally housed four coal-fired generators, but the last coal unit was decommissioned in 2018. The two remaining generators, both natural gas-powered, operate during peak loading periods in the coldest weeks of winter when energy demand is heaviest. It’s also used when there are major outages elsewhere in the province, with a total generation capacity of 280 megawatts — five per cent of the province’s total generation capacity.

A Manitoba Hydro spokesperson told the Sun by email that the station was running in late October and then again this week. That’s partially because of low water levels reducing Hydro’s capacity to generate power. Choosing when to operate the Brandon station depends on whether it is cheaper to do so than to import electricity from neighbouring utilities.

A total of 38 people are employed at the Brandon Generation Station. The Hydro spokesperson said they couldn’t speculate as to whether the reduced reliance on the station would result in elimination or transferring of any jobs from Brandon.

Reached by phone, Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett applauded the investment, saying the extra energy capacity it will bring will help attract larger industrial projects to Westman.

“It was a high hope to have everybody come on board the way they have,” Fawcett said. “It creates timelines that are now much more realistic for everybody and we can really get to work on a lot of stuff here in the province, but particularly southwestern Manitoba.

In a release, Freeland said making Canada a clean electricity superpower is part of her government’s economic plan.

“Today’s announcement in Manitoba will deliver clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to people and businesses across the province — and we will continue working to expand our clean electricity grid and create great careers for people from coast to coast to coast,” Freeland said.

For his part, Kinew said the investment will help Manitoba be a leader in the low-carbon economy.

“Continued investment in a publicly owned Manitoba Hydro will mean more low-carbon jobs, more progress towards our net-zero targets and more opportunities to lower costs for working families,” Kinew said. “We’re glad to partner with the Government of Canada to continue building on Manitoba’s crown jewel together.”

Spruce Woods Progressive Conservative MLA Grant Jackson, the shadow minister for Manitoba Hydro, said his party appreciates the investment being made but he would like to know more details about how it will benefit communities like Brandon that needs more energy grid support.

He also said he was disappointed that neither Freeland nor Kinew answered questions during the conference about the carbon tax.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported Thursday that both politicians sidestepped the issue when asked.

Recently, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that heating oil would be exempted from the federal carbon tax for three years, prompting calls from the Opposition and from provincial premiers to add other carveouts amidst a period of rising unaffordability.

During a meeting of the Council of the Federation in Halifax, Kinew said similar consideration for exemptions should be given to heating methods used by the people of Manitoba.

“I thought this would be perhaps a good opportunity for the deputy prime minister to announce fairness for our provinces while she was here,” Jackson said.

“That did not happen. That’s obviously disappointing for Manitobans, who think that they should get a fair treatment with respect to the carbon tax being charged on their home heating. And so the question is, did the premier raise it with her while she was in town?”

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark