Tories 'taking the heart out of Manitoba Hydro' by promoting subsidiaries, scrapping low-cost pledges: NDP

The board of Manitoba Hydro is being reminded it candivvy upsome of the utility's work tosubsidiaries which the NDPis decrying as astep toward privatization.

A sentence seeminglygrantingthe board permissionto create subsidiaries was includedinthe board's new terms of reference, which the NDPraisedduringquestion period Wednesday.

The document also eliminatedreferences asking Manitoba Hydro to keep electricity rates low and supply powerin anenvironmentally-friendly fashion.

"They're essentially taking the heart out of Manitoba Hydro," NDPleader Wab Kinewsaid.

Cheap, clean energy is thebasis by whichthe Crown corporation was formed, he said.

"That's the whole reason we created this utility in the first place."

Another addition to the board's guidelinesinclude stating the corporation is responsible to the government minister, who must be "proactively informed" when significant issues arise.

Hydro's call

The provincial government, however, says the rewritten terms of reference wasthe directive of the Manitoba Hydro board andnot itself.

CBC's requests to the government for an interviewwere directed to Manitoba Hydro.

In an interview, Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Scott Powell said the energy utility has undergone no legislativechanges, and is still governed by the Manitoba Hydro Act.

Theterms of reference were altered to align the board's duties with the new act overseeingCrown corporations, Powell said.

"Whether you have one or twowords different in the terms of reference, the essence of the company hasn't changed."

While the new terms of reference no longer instructs the corporation to ensure an "environmentally responsible supply of energy for Manitobans," it encourages the board to "promote economy and efficiency in all phases of power generation and distribution."

On the cost to ratepayers, the updated directions asksthe utility to deliver"safe,reliable energy services at a fair price," but the board is not specifically instructedwith keeping electricity rates low.

Privatization on horizon

Kinew contends the added sentenceon subsidiaries permits Hydro to be broken off and sold for parts, although theterms of reference does notspecify if any subsidiary would be wholly owned byHydroorcontractedto a private company.

Powell said Manitoba Hydro has been permitted to create subsidiaries since 1997, and nothing has changed since.

Kinewwarnedabout Hydro's privatization last week whenJay Grewalwas announced as Hydro's incomingCEO and president.

She was employed withB.C. Hydro when then-premier Gordon Campbellhired by the Manitoba government to investigatecostly overruns on two electricitymegaprojects sold off segments of theutility.

She then becamemanaging director of Accenture, aglobal management consulting firm, which acquired several B.C. Hydro departments.

During question period Wednesday, Pallister disputedthat Manitoba Hydro is bound to be sold.

He slammed the NDP's"Americanization strategy" of producing more electricity than it is capable of selling, which has saddled ratepayers with billions in debt.

The makeup of the Hydro board has undergone a complete turnover in under a year.

Nine of the 10 members resigned en massethis March over an impasse with the Pallister government. The lone holdover, Cliff Graydon, was dismissedfrom his post last monthafter the Progressive Conservatives removed him from caucus.

With files from Sean Kavanagh and Stephen Ripley