Manitoba Hydro’s most recent financial report is very troubling and should concern Manitoba ratepayers says Steinbach MLA, Kelvin Goertzen.
“Both the finances and the external environment for Hydro sales are as troubling as I’ve seen during my time as MLA,” said Goertzen. “What it means is that both in the short term and long term Manitobans will be paying more. It requires the NDP to re-examine some of the directives it has made regarding capital expenditures for Hydro in the future.”
Last week the Crown Corporation applied for and received an emergency rate increase of 2% for Manitoba customers after it announced that it would lose $51 million this year and $58 million next year.
Manitoba Hydro’s newest power dam, Wuskwatim will come online later this year and will generate power at a cost of 10 cents per kilowatt hour. Currently the export market for power is about 3 cents per kilowatt hour.
“The fact is that demand for hydroelectric power in the United States has dropped significantly over the past few years and doesn’t appear to be rebounding. The net effect is that we are selling Hydro to the United States at a loss and Manitobans are making up the difference,” said Goertzen.
Goertzen said the most recent news should cause the NDP to re-examine some of the decisions it has made on Hydro including the routing of Bi-Pole III, the proposed new multi-billion transmission line.
“Manitoba Hydro was always intended to be the economic engine of the province, not a way to subsidize U.S. power,” said Goertzen. “If the NDP don’t rethink some of their decisions regarding Hydro, Manitobans are in for a long series of rate increases.”
