The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flonners may have to dig deeper into their wallets with their power bills expected to sharply increase over the next decade. Manitoba Hydro predicts its rates will go up 25.5 per cent by 2014, according to The Winnipeg Sun. That would mean an extra $220 per year for the average residential customer. The corporation has already confirmed a three per cent increase effective April 1 and an additional 2.5 per cent increase in 2005. The Sun reported that a Manitoba Hydro planning document projects further increases of 2.5 per cent in each of the following eight years. In an interview with the newspaper, Manitoba Finance Minister Greg Selinger reiterated a point his government has made in the past: that the projected rate increases are essentially a worst case scenario. He said projections of higher rates rarely bear fruition. As expected, the planning document brought strong criticism from the opposition Tories, who argued that the increases are the result of Premier Gary Doer ordering Manitoba Hydro to pay dividends of more than $200 million to the province. "When people in Manitoba see their hydro rates going up Ñ which they will in the next short while Ñ they can thank Gary Doer for making that happen," Hydro critic Merv Tweed told The Sun.
