Many Manitobans likely assume that Manitoba Hydro is either debt free or close to debt free. That perception would seem natural given the fact the NDP government routinely compares our hydro electric power to the oil that flows in Alberta. Since Alberta oil is incredibly profitable for that province, why wouldn’t Manitoba Hydro be profitable for our province?
In fact, as demonstrated by the report this month that showed Manitoba Hydro lost $443 million last year alone, the Crown Corporation not only routinely loses money, it is carrying a tremendous debt load.
With the $443 million loss last year, there is now an accumulated debt at Manitoba Hydro of more than $7.6 billion. That is a staggering amount of debt and one that directly impacts all Manitobans. Because that debt needs to be paid, increased debt means increased hydro rates for all consumers as has been seen over the past few years.
The decisions that hydro makes regarding expenditures, whether it is on a new downtown Winnipeg office building or where to build a new hydro transmission line, impacts all of its customers. As the debt increases, hydro rates go up as well.
So when the NDP government decided to direct Manitoba Hydro to build a new transmission line on the west side of Lake Winnipeg instead of the east side of Lake Winnipeg, even though the west side route will cost $640 million more, it impacts all of us.
The high amount of debt Manitoba Hydro has racked up under the NDP government poses a considerable risk to all Manitobans. This is especially true considering the corporation is planning to spend $18 billion more in the coming years on new construction projects.
It is this risk and how it is being managed that caused the province’s Auditor General to announce earlier this month that her office would be conducting a financial audit of Manitoba Hydro and how it is managing the risk that this ballooning debt causes. The audit will take more than a year to complete and comes after a number of people have raised concerns about the huge debt that Manitoba Hydro has accrued over the past several years.
Gary Doer and the NDP like to compare Manitoba Hydro to Alberta oil. Unfortunately, while oil has made Alberta a wealthy province, under the NDP, Manitoba Hydro is suffering from the weight of a growing debt and all consumers are paying the price for it. The NDP government’s decision to direct the corporation to build a hydro line down the wrong side of the province at a cost of $640 million more than the cheaper route is just one of many examples of a government directing Hydro to make bad business decisions.
The commitment of the Auditor to look at the books of Manitoba Hydro and the risk of mounting debt probably wouldn’t be necessary if it were not being so badly managed under the NDP government. But it is important for every Manitoban who is paying more for their hydro every time its debt increases.
