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.
Why does Manitoba Hydro charge Manitobans more than double for the same electricity sold to customers outside the province? That's one of the questions the official opposition is raising as the Crown corporation seeks the latest in a long line of rate increases. The Progressive Conservatives cite Hydro's own figures, which show the utility now makes more by selling power to Manitobans at 6.5 cents a kilowatt hour than it does on the export market, where it sells power at about three cents a kilowatt hour. This, combined with Hydro's latest proposed rate hike, proves the NDP's attempts to keep domestic rates down by exporting power is failing, in the view of the PCs. The PCs say Hydro concluded there are decreases in export market revenue because of a poor economy in the United States, combined with the heavy competition from low-cost natural gas. 'It's crystal clear that the NDP's decision to spend billions on new dams we don't need is to feed an export market that isn't there,' Manitoba Hydro Critic Ron Schuler said. 'The facts are the NDP is more interested in expensive legacies that will ultimately weaken our province.' But the NDP has repeatedly defended its record on Hydro, saying it still offers Manitobans the lowest power rates in the country. And last month, in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, Premier Greg Selinger defended efforts to export Manitoba power. 'Supplying your export customers is the best guarantee of keeping your rates low,' he told the newspaper. 'This is something people need to understand.' As low as they may be in comparison to other provinces, however, Hydro's rates have gone up significantly under the NDP. Between 2004 and 2011, rates surged more than 20 per cent. Between 2005 and 2011, rate increases were about 45 per cent above inflation, a Consumers' Association of Canada spokesperson told the Winnipeg Free Press. Rates went up a further 4.5 per cent in 2012, and Hydro has applied to boost them a further 3.5 per cent effective this April. The latest rate hike application has drawn opposition from groups including First Nations, a key constituency for the NDP. _ Compiled from a Progressive Conservative Caucus of Manitoba news release and files from The Reminder archives
