The provincial Public Utilities Board (PUB) last week issued its report on the NDP Hydro plans and there were a number of alarm bells set off that should have Manitobans very concerned.
Despite low export prices for Manitoba Hydro and ever increasing hydro rates for Manitobans, the NDP have committed Hydro to spending billions of dollars on two new dams, Keeyask and Conawapa. The NDP have struggled to show the economic case for these dams and in fact have admitted that hydro rates for Manitobans will increase by at least 140% over the next two decades as Manitobans subsidize hydro exports to the United States.
The PUB report ultimately gave the green light to the Keeyask hydro dam in part because the NDP government had already spent $1.4 billion on the project to date. The fact that the NDP spent more than a billion dollars before the project was even approved is concerning in and of itself but it is in keeping with a government that feels it can do whatever it wants to. The PUB raised concerns that current Manitobans and future generations would have to pay a high price for the new dams and the subsidizing of cheap hydro to our American neighbors. They also pointed out that the only real winner will be the provincial government itself because it charges “water rental and debt guarantee fees” to Hydro and as a result the money that will flow into the provincial coffers from Hydro are set to double.
Perhaps this is the real reason that the NDP seem so determined to charge Manitobans more and more for hydro electricity while subsidizing cheap hydro to residents of the United States. Manitobans pay more for hydro and the NDP take more from Manitoba Hydro.
The PUB did put a hold on the construction of the Conawapa dam noting that, again, an economic case had not been made for its construction given the challenge that hydro is having exporting to the United States in an environment where natural gas prices are low.
Overall the PUB report confirmed many of the concerns that Manitobans have with the NDP’s Hydro expansion plans. They have failed to make the economic case for the plans and it is costing Manitobans more and more every year on their Hydro bills. The only ones who are guaranteed to benefit are the NDP who will get millions of dollars in new Hydro fees even as Manitobans subsidize the export of cheap hydro.
Manitoba Hydro is owned by Manitobans and it should exist for the benefit of Manitobans. The PUB report is just the latest warning that the NDP are putting their interests ahead of Manitobans.
