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.
The Manitoba Clean Environment Commission is conducting hearings to weigh the pros and cons of a potential new generation station for Northern Manitoba. Manitoba Hydro's Wuskwatim Generating Station would be located on the Burntwood River about 45 kilometres southwest of Thompson. The station would produce about 200 megawatts of electricity and require less than one-half square kilometre of new land to be flooded. Pending receipt of all environmental approvals, the earliest that construction of the generating station infrastructure could begin would be in late 2004. The earliest that the project could bring electricity to market would be in late 2010. The Wuskwatim Generating Station Project would also require development of transmission facilities to deliver power to the Manitoba Hydro system. The idea hasn't been without its detractors. At the hearings on Tuesday, a California environmentalist urged Manitoba Hydro to utilize wind power instead. Patrick McCully said global warming could result in less water to provide hydroelectric power in the future.
