Manitoba Hydro

1873–1960: electric power before Manitoba Hydro

The first recorded attempt to extract useful work from a Manitoba river was in 1829 at a flour mill (known as Grant's Mill) located on Sturgeon Creek in what is now Winnipeg. This was not successful and the milling equipment was later operated by a windmill.

The first public electric lighting installation in Manitoba was demonstrated at the Davis House hotel on Main Street, Winnipeg, March 12, 1873. In 1880, the Manitoba Electric and Gas Light Company was incorporated to provide public lighting and power, and a year later absorbed the Winnipeg Gas Company. In 1893, the Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Company was formed, and initially purchased power from Manitoba Electric and Gas, but by 1898, it had built its own 1000-horsepower (750 kW) generating plant and purchased Manitoba Electric and Gas.

The first hydroelectric plant in Manitoba operated north of Brandon from 1901 to 1924. Private investors built a 261-foot (80 m) earth-fill dam across the Minnedosa River (now known as the Little Saskatchewan River) about a kilometer from its junction with the Assiniboine River. The plant only operated part of the year, with the load carried in the winter months by steam generators. An 11-kV wood-pole transmission line connected the station with the town of Brandon, Manitoba. The dam washed out in 1948 but remains are still visible. A second plant was built by private investors near Minnedosa in 1912 but low water levels meant that it only operated intermittently. In 1920 the plant was replaced by a diesel station owned by the Manitoba Power Commission. The dam still exists today at Minnedosa Lake.

By 1906, Winnipeg Electric Street Railway had constructed a hydroelectric plant on the Winnipeg River near Pinawa, and seventy miles (110 km) of 60-kV transmission line. This plant operated year-round until 1951, when it was shut down to allow improved water flow to other Winnipeg River stations. Its remains are still preserved as a provincial park.

Since the investor-owned Winnipeg Electric Street Railway was charging twenty cents per kilowatt-hour, the City of Winnipeg founded its own utility in 1906,. Winnipeg city alderman John Wesley Cockburn (January 9, 1856 – November 9, 1924) had privately secured water rights for a development on the river. With these water rights, the City developed a generating station at Pointe du Bois on the Winnipeg River (which was completed in 1911 and which still operates early in the 21st century). In reaction to this, Winnipeg Electric Street Railway dropped prices to ten cents per kilowatt-hour, but the City-owned utility (Winnipeg Hydro) set a price of 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour which held for many decades.

In 1916, the Province established the Manitoba Power Commission with the object of bringing electric power to communities outside of Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Hydro, Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Company and the Manitoba Hydro Commission all built extensive hydroelectric generating facilities on the Winnipeg River during the period 1916 through 1928. The Great Depression starting in 1929 put an end to rapid growth until after World War II. The City of Winnipeg utility built coal-fired steam generators in 1924 on Amy Street, which were also used for district heating of downtown buildings. During World War Two, electric boilers at Amy Street used surplus hydroelectric power to economize on coal consumption. The City utility also implemented load management on electric water heaters, which allowed them to be turned off during the day and during peak load periods.

In 1949 the Province set up a new utility, the Manitoba Hydro Electric Board (MHEB). In 1953 the MHEB acquired the assets of the Winnipeg Electric Street Railway. The MHEB was tasked with bringing electric power to the rural parts of Manitoba, a task which took until around 1956 to substantially complete.

Controversies and issues

Like any other large-scale activity, the operations of Manitoba Hydro have not been without controversy.

In 1976, the Churchill River diversion project was set into operation. Flow was diverted by a series of channels and control structures into the Nelson River. The effects of this diversion on pre-existing water levels and the indigenous Cree and Métis people continue to be felt to this day. Negotiations between the affected Northern communities and Manitoba Hydro continue, to discuss mitigation measures and compensation for loss of traditional resource areas and sites.

The water level of Lake Winnipeg is now regulated by Manitoba Hydro as part of the energy generation operations. Some property owners on the southern edge of the lake feel that the levels are now maintained at a higher average level than would be natural, and attribute erosion of their property to the lake level. Manitoba Hydro has pointed out that the regulation project also allows lake level to be lowered, such as during the 1997 floods, thereby preventing significant property damage.

Residents of the area around the Selkirk steam plant attributed various environmental damage to the continued operation of this plant, which at the time was fuelled by coal. Manitoba Hydro has converted this plant to natural gas, which, while a more expensive and faster-depleting energy source than coal, burns with lower emissions of heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide.

The Province of Manitoba charges Manitoba Hydro a water rental fee proportionate to the total volume of water passed through the generating stations. Increases in this rental have provided an important stream of non-tax revenue to the Provincial government. While at first glance it may seem superfluous for the provincial government to collect such fees from a company it owns, the government argues that such fees help ensure that Manitobans receive a direct return on that portion of energy resources that is exported. More controversially, in 2002–2004 the New Democratic Party provincial government collected a direct dividend from Manitoba Hydro. This was criticized by the provincial opposition parties for various reasons but mostly as evidence that Hydro rates were unnecessarily high with the excess amounting to a hidden tax.

Manitoba Hydro has studied new HVDC transmission lines to run along the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The additional transmission capacity would be required to develop stations at Keeyask and Conawapa. This plan would offset the concentration of transmission lines in the Interlake area (west of Lake Winnipeg and east of Lake Manitoba), and would provide additional security against transmission failures due to adverse weather or other causes. However, this area has no roads and very little development. Some environmentalists argue that this vast area of boreal forest should not be crossed by a transmission corridor. If roads were built at the same time as the lines, these roads would allow year-round access to small First Nation communities east of the lake; some people feel this would have more adverse than beneficial effects for these communities. From an engineering perspective, there is no connection between building a new transmission line east of Lake Winnipeg, and building a road east of the lake. In May 2005, the provincial government announced that it would not consider any route along the east side of Lake Winnipeg, even though the alternative routes through the Interlake region or west of Lake Manitoba would extend the transmission lines, and increase cost. The western route was chosen by the government to protect the proposed UNESCO biosphere reserve on the east side by local First Nations reserves called Pimachiowin Aki. This decision was criticized by 19 former senior Manitoba Hydro engineers, who were in favour of the East side route.