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Founded in 1961, Manitoba Hydro is the electric power and natural gas utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba Hydro Electric Board and the Manitoba Hydro Act H190 CCSM. Today the company operates 15 interconnected generating stations. It has more than 500,000 electric power customers and more than 250,000 natural gas customers. Since most of the electrical energy is provided by hydroelectric power, the utility has low and stable electricity rates. Stations in Northern Manitoba are connected by a HVDC system, the Nelson River Bipole to customers in the south.
Abbreviated HistoryThe first public electric lighting installation in Manitoba was demonstrated at the Davis House hotel on Main Street, 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 generating plant and purchased Manitoba Electric and Gas. The first hydroelectric plant in Manitoba was built near Brandon on the Minnedosa River in 1900, but this only operated part of the year (with the load carried in the winter months by steam generators). By 1906 Winnipeg Electric Street Railway had constructed a hydroelectric plant on the Winnipeg river near Pinaway, and seventy miles of 60 kV transmission line. This plant operated until 1951 and its remains are still preserved as a Provincial park. Since the investor-owned Winnipeg Electric Street Railway was charging 20 cents per kilowatthour, the City of Winnipeg founded its own utility in 1906, and developed a generating station at Pointe du Bois on the Winnipeg River (which still operates today). In reaction to this Winnipeg Electric Street Railway dropped prices to 10 cents per kilowatthour, but the City-owned utility (Winnipeg Hydro) set a price of 3 1/2 cents/kwh 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. All of Winnipeg Hydro, Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Co. and the Manitoba Hydro Commission built extensive generating facitilities on the Winnipeg River during the period 1916 through 1928, but the Great Depression starting in 1929 put an end to rapid growth until after World War II. A new utility was set up by the Province in 1949 , the Manitoba Hydro Electric Board. It acqired the assets of the Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Co. in 1953. By 1955 there were three utilities in the province:
Between 1955 and 1960 studies were carried out to determine what resources would be available for future hydraulic generation. Two thermal (coal-fired) stations were built at Brandon and Selkirk. The Manitoba Power Commission and Manitoba Hydro Electric Board merged in 1961 to form the organization known as Manitoba Hydro. The last of the private mine-owned utility systems at Flin Flon was purchased by Manitoba Hydro in 1973. The early 1970's also marked the installation of tie lines between Manitoba Hydro and utilities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Minnesota. In 1974 Manitoba Hydro was still considering nuclear generation. Although two research nuclear reactors existed in the province, no nuclear generating capacity has ever been constructed in Manitoba. In July 1999 Manitoba Hydro purchased the natural gas distribution company Centra Gas Manitoba. On September 3, 2003 Manitoba Hydro purchased Winnipeg Hydro, which formerly provided electric power in the downtown area of Winnipeg. Generating Stations
TransmissionAC systemManitoba Hydro operates an extensive network of more than 9000 km of ac transmission lines. Transmission voltages in use include:
Distribution voltages include 4160 V especially in urban Winnipeg, 12.47 kV and 25 kV, usually on overhead conductors but often in buried cables. Total length of distribution lines is over 80,000 km. DC systemA large portion of the energy generated on the Nelson river is transmitted south on the HVDC Nelson River Bipole system. The two transmission lines, each nearly 900 km long, operate at +/- 450 kV and +/- 500 kV DC, with converter stations at Gillam, Henday and the receiving terminal near Rosser. ExportsManitoba Hydro has transmission lines connecting with Saskatchewan, Ontario, North Dakota and Minnesota. Ties to the Canadian provinces are of low capacity but a substantial portion of Manitoba Hydro's annual generation can be exported over the tie to Minnesota. Controversies and IssuesLike 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 Metis 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. Lake Winnipeg level 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. As well, since 2002 the New Democratic Party provincial government announced that it was planning to collect a direct dividend from Manitoba Hydro "excess" profits. This was criticized by the provincial opposition parties since they felt it allowed excess spending by the government. Manitoba Hydro is currently studying new HVDC transmission lines to run along the east edge of Lake Winnipeg. The additional transmission capacity would be required to develop stations at Gull (Keeyask), and Conawapa. This plan would offset the concentration of transmission lines in the area West of Lake Winnipeg, 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. Roads associated with the line would allow year-round access to small communities east of the lake; some people feel this would have more adverse than beneficial effects for these communities.
Comparision of Manitoba Hydro with other utilitiesManitoba Hydro is unusual in North America because it is the sole commercial provider of electrical power in the province of Manitoba. It is a Crown corporation closely regulated by the Provincial government. This status arose because of the history of electrification in the Province, where early commercial developers emphasized private profit, limiting the economic benefits that electrification would bring. Manitoba Hydro is required by its regulating legislation to give priority to public benefit over profit. Another unusual feature of Manitoba Hydro is that it is a completely integrated electrical utility, with generation, transmission, and distribution operations. This means that Manitoba Hydro can consider the total system cost and benefits of any new development, rather than, for example, building generation capacity that relies on a second party for transmission. An example of this approach was seen at the hearings for the recent Wuskwatim Generating Station project, in which environmental review for both the generating station and associated transmission facilities were carried out at the same time. Manitoba Hydro's mandate to serve dictates that it builds enough transmission and generating firm capacity to serve the Manitoba home market first. However, in a typical year, more energy is available than the firm capacity. This can be economically exported from the Province. Since this energy is typically sold on short-term contracts or even on a spot market, the returns on these sales increase Manitoba Hydro's retained earnings, allowing domestic rates to be stable and low. Since Manitoba Hydro is not obligated to provide a return on investment to shareholders, energy costs to industrial and residential consumers are lower than they would otherwise be. These lower costs help offset some of the higher costs of doing business in a region far from large markets. The company todayToday Manitoba Hydro serves a peak Manitoba electrical load of nearly 4000 megawatts. Electrical supply was nearly 22 terawatthours, with total revenues of $1.78 billion (Canadian). Export sales were considerably lower than in 2001, due to drought conditions and low water flows. The company also delivered 2.1 billion cubic metres of natural gas, which contributed $587 million (Canadian) to revenues. Manitoba Hydro had 5300 employees at the end of 2003. Capital assets were valued at nearly $10 billion (Canadian). In fiscal 2003 (ending March 31, 2004), the total generation was 19.3 terawatthours. Due to low water levels, about 7 TWh were imported to meet a Manitoba domestic consumption of 21.9 TWh. In 2001 generation was nearly 32.7 terawatthours, allowing net export of 12 TWh to customers in the United States, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Water levels for FY2004 are expected to be more typical, allowing Manitoba Hydro to resume its usual position as a net exporter of electrical energy. A terawatthour is the average annual consumption of 70,000 Manitoba residences,14,100 kWh per year each. On the evening of January 15, 2005 Manitoba Hydro set a new record for demand of 4,223 MW, with a total interconnected generating capacity of approximately 5000 MW. A subsidiary company, Manitoba Hydro International, provides electric power consulting services. Manitoba Hydro also operates a high-voltage DC laboratory. See AlsoCrown corporation Electric power Environmental concerns with electricity generation Hydroelectricity References
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