Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 25, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 A 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015 TOP NEWS winnipegfreepress. com OUTDOOR POLY GLIDER SETS For year- round weather Handcrafted by Ontario Mennonites & Amish 124 ROBLIN BLVD. E. IN WINKLER 204.331.1415 MON TO THU 9 - 5: 30 . FRI 9 - 9 . SAT 9 - 5: 30 oreckcanada. com THE ORECK CENTRE 657 Century Street 204- 779- 1800 CENTRE AC 14K BTU of power heats ansd cools, has built in heat pump and AC cools 800 square feet during the day and heats at night..... Plasma Cool Portable Air Conditioner with heat LAST CHANCE 50 50 50 % % % OFFSHOW OFF SHOW MODELS MODELS MODELS LASTLAST LAST CHANCECHANCE CHANCE Great for cottages! M ANITOBANS will pay more on their Manitoba Hydro bill starting next month, and it won't all be for electricity. The bulk of a 3.95 per cent rate hike approved by the Public Utilities Board increase as of Aug. 1 will instead go to help pay for the controversial Bipole III transmission line. The rate increase - a hike Manitoba Hydro requested - will bump up the monthly bill of an average residential customer without electric space heat by about $ 3.20, and an average customer with electric space heat by about $ 6.11. In its decision posted on its website, the PUB said 2.15 per cent of the increase will be put into to a deferral account, previously established by the PUB, to pay for the Bipole III transmission line. The remaining 1.8 per cent of the increase will go toward Manitoba Hydro's daily operations. " This will help to reduce the significant rate increases that would be required when Bipole III is put into service," the PUB said. " The board concludes that gradual rate increases today will avoid rate shock when Bipole III and other major projects come into service." The $ 4.6- billion Bipole III is scheduled to come into service in 2018. Bipole III has been a political football for about a decade. It was originally to be built on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, carrying electricity from Hydro's northern generating stations to Winnipeg. The line would also add greater security to Hydro as the other two bipoles have been prone to flooding, ice and tornadoes. However, the government under former premier Gary Doer in 2004 ordered Hydro to build the line on the west side of the province, a longer and more costly route that raised the ire of many farmers whose land the line will cross. The decision by the NDP was intended to protect the east- side boreal forest in a bid to have it declared a UN World Heritage site, but that designation remains in the works. The third bipole also increases Manitoba Hydro's ability to export more power to the U. S. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives say the new rate increase is a direct result of the NDP government's mismanagement of the utility. " This is going to be a regular occurrence for the next generation," said Ralph Eichler, critic for Manitoba Hydro. " Manitobans simply can't afford this continued mismanagement. No business runs itself this way." But Eric Robinson, minister responsible for the Crown corporation, argued Hydro remains a bargain for Manitobans. " Other provinces are seeing rate increases as high as 26 per cent over the next three years," he said in a statement. " Here in Manitoba, regular small increases will fund Hydro projects that will mean a strong and reliable corporation into the future." Robinson added Hydro's investments are creating 10,000 jobs and training opportunities while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hydro has said it will spend about $ 20 billion over the next decade; that includes Bipole III, the $ 6.5- billion Keeyask generating station under construction on the Nelson River and $ 5.9 billion to maintain and upgrade existing facilities. The utility's energy- efficiency programs will cost an estimated $ 700 million. To help pay for everything, and to keep Hydro's cash flow above water, it says it needs annual rates of 3.95 per cent over the same period, or 42 per cent by 2024. " These investments will increase operating costs and require higher electricity rates," the PUB said. Until last year, the government had said ratepayers wouldn't be on the hook for the cost of the transmission line, but that tune changed when the 2008- 09 global recession took a big bite out of Hydro's export revenue. Those revenues are forecast to stay low for the foreseeable future. " Because export revenues are decreasing, domestic rates will need to increase," the PUB said. Before the recession, Hydro averaged $ 365 million a year in net export revenue. Net export revenue is forecast to be $ 181 million in 2015- 16. The PUB said Hydro's road to recovery could be more complicated because of competition from renewable energy such as wind and solar, and the low cost of natural gas that can be used to burn instead of coal, a leading cause of smog and air pollution. Hydro has predicted six consecutive years of losses, ranging from $ 75 million to $ 192 million, from 2018 to 2024, before it returns to the black. However, in its back pocket are a number of signed firm export contracts with American utilities and Saskatchewan worth about $ 10.1 billion. The PUB also said Bipole II is expected to increase Hydro's annual costs by $ 384 million in 2020 and will not generate new offsetting revenues. The board said a rate hike of more than 20 per cent would be needed to support that annual cost. " These higher rates will have a significant impact on all Manitobans, but especially lower- income Manitobans," the PUB says. " Manitoba Hydro is therefore directed by the board to develop a bill- affordability program that is harmonized with Manitoba Hydro's other programs supporting lower- income ratepayers." The PUB ordered Hydro to file its plan for a billassistance program by Oct. 31. bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca The government's promise that ratepayers wouldn't foot the bill for Bipole III was scuttled by the recession. PUB clears way for Hydro rate hike Transmission line largely responsible By Bruce Owen ' Gradual rate increases today will avoid rate shock when Bipole III and other major projects come into service' A_ 04_ Jul- 25- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A4 7/ 24/ 15 10: 33: 04 PM ;