Sharing the Hydro advantage equally

It's the people of Manitoba who built Hydro, and it's the people of Manitoba who should reap the benefits.

• Our government passed legislation preventing the privatization of Manitoba Hydro without the explicit approval of the majority of the province's citizens in a referendum.


• Shortly after coming to power the NDP legislated equal rates for every household in Manitoba, saving rural and remote northern residents $16 million a year.

Low rates

• Manitobans enjoy the lowest electricity rates in North America.

Clean energy

• Ninety-eight per cent of the electricity Hydro produces comes from either wind or water. We have phased out the use of coal to generate electricity by converting Hydro’s coal plant in Selkirk to cleaner burning natural gas, and phasing out the use of coal at the Brandon generating station.


• The St. Leon wind farm is fully operational.

Energy efficiency

• Three times in a row the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance has given Manitoba the top marks in the country for energy efficiency.


• Hydro’s highly successful Power Smart strategy has helped reduce electricity consumption by 400 megawatts since 1999, enough to power a city the size of Brandon. Power Smart is like a virtual dam, freeing up twice the energy generated by a hydro project such as Wuskwatim.


• We have greatly expanded Power Smart retro fits to make homes and businesses more energy efficient.

Economic potential

• Hydro can double its current generating capacity of more than 5,000 megawatts, triggering up to $10 billion in new investments —more than the largest Alberta oil sands project.


• Work is underway on the $1.6 billion Wuskwatim project, and a commitment has been made to go forward with the Keeyask and Conawapa projects based on export contracts. The four Keeyask Cree Nations have entered an agreement partnering them with Hydro for the development of the Keeyask Generating Station. If developed, the Keeyask project would be the 4th largest of our current generating stations.


• We are building the transmission line Bipole III to enhance reliability and export capacity.

Environmental awareness

• Manitoba is a world leader in redesigning Hydro projects to greatly reduce flooding and environmental impacts. “New Generation” dams, such as Wuskwatim, have incorporated traditional First Nations’ knowledge in the redesign to reduce flooding to less than half a square kilometre.


• Hydro’s new 21-story headquarters will be one of the most energy efficient in the world, using 60% less energy than a comparable conventional office tower.


• Hydro will be running its new transmission line Bipole III from northern dams to the west of Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis in order to protect one of the world’s last remaining pristine boreal forests on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

Downtown revitalization

• The new Portage Avenue headquarters brings over 2,000 Hydro employees into Winnipeg’s downtown, adding a new dynamic to the area and local businesses.

"Manitoba Hydro is “a strategic economic advantage for Manitoba. Recognition of that has only increased with all the attention in Europe and the UN and the U.S. on energy security and the whole climate change issue."

Mary Webb, Scotia Bank senior economist (Winnipeg Free Press, 18 February 2007)

Figures current as of November, 2009

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