Manitoba to ‘Repatriate’ Some Hydro Exports to the US: Premier

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks during the media availability at the 2024 Western Premiers' Conference in Whitehorse, on June 10, 2024. The Canadian Press/Crystal Schick

Manitoba is set to increase its energy supply for the province and other regions in Canada after two hydroelectric contracts with a Minnesota utility expire at the end of April.

The province has decided to “repatriate” two contracts with Northern States Power amid ongoing trade tensions with the United States, Premier Wab Kinew announced on April 14. The agreements were signed with Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy in 2010 for a combined 500 megawatts of power.

“We saw that there’s 500 [megawatts] of export contracts that are expiring at the end of the month,” Kinew said during a press conference in Winnipeg. “We’ve decided as Canadians and as Manitobans, we are going to use that power to build up our own economy here at home. So in Manitoba, that means more housing, more factories. But it also gives us the opportunity to talk about trade corridors and building up our Canadian economy.”

Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro said on April 14 that it had no plans to extend the contracts regardless of the trade dispute.

Kinew said he had notified Minnesota Governor Tim Walz of the decision several months earlier, so the change will not come as a surprise. That said, Manitoba still intends to sell electricity to the United States and buy it during the winter, he added.

“We’re still going to be good partners, and reliable partners, for our American export market,” Kinew said. “But the reality is, we’re also going to step up to a new level of engagement in terms of leading the energy conversation in Canada.”

Manitoba-Nunavut Link

The province already has plans for at least some of the 500 megawatts of power, Kinew said. Fifty megawatts will be allocated for the possible development of the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link in Nunavut.

The Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link is an infrastructure initiative designed to decrease dependency on diesel fuel in northern communities. It is currently in the preliminary stages and is projected to be operational by 2032. Representatives from Nunavut will be in Manitoba to sign an agreement this week, Kinew said.

The premier said he is hopeful the federal government will provide funding for the project which would serve the remote northern region of Manitoba and approximately 11,000 residents of Nunavut located west of Hudson Bay.

He is also hopeful Ottawa will invest in an east-west power grid, Kinew said, noting that Manitoba is on board to build a trade corridor toward other parts of Canada with its 450 megawatts of surplus power.

“We are an energy superpower that’s just on the cusp of attaining that superpower status as Manitobans, but we want to be in the business of selling our power,” Kinew said. “And at a moment of Canadian pride, Canadian sovereignty, who better to sell our electricity to than to other Canadians?”

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives said it is not clear if a decrease in sales to Minnesota will negatively impact Manitoba Hydro’s financial performance. Tory energy critic Lauren Stone said the Crown corporation is currently $25 billion in debt due to cost overruns on two major projects.

Manitoba Hydro intends to invest $1.4 billion in the construction of a 500-megawatt fuel-burning power plant by 2030 to prevent winter energy shortages, and is planning to collaborate with indigenous-owned firms to establish 600 megawatts of wind farms.

Stone said the premier “needs to be candid” about what the projects will cost Manitobans in the future.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.