Hydro deal to generate thousands of jobs

A $2-billion deal to export hydroelectric power to Wisconsin will require thousands of workers on several generating stations and transmission lines in Manitoba and the province is up to the task, says a construction-industry leader.

The Manitoba government announced on Thursday that Manitoba Hydro had reached a tentative deal to provide up to 500 megawatts of power to the Wisconsin Public Service over 15 years, starting in 2018.

The long-term sale will require the $12 billion in construction, including the controversial BiPole III transmission line, as well as several generating stations in northern Manitoba Conawapa, Keeyask and Wuskwatim and a major transmission line between Canada and the United States, provincial officials said.

Chris Lorenc, president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association, said the projects will be a huge, but welcome, undertaking.

"It's a tremendous shot in the arm to the economy, which is not one-time in nature, because not only do you have the construction short term, but the long-term spinoff economic benefits that accrue to the province," he said.

The projects will provide long-term career opportunities to people who are students today, and many workers from Alberta will return home for jobs in Manitoba, he predicted.

Premier Gary Doer says the province will be able to meet the demand for workers, which is expected to be in the thousands.

The government is delivering on an election promise to create 4,000 new apprenticeship positions, and the University College of the North has expanded its operations to include 17 faculties, he noted.

"The more apprenticeship positions we have, the more distribution we have in northern and aboriginal communities where there isn't as many people trained," Doer said.

Review process should be quicker: premier

In order to meet the target sale date of 2018, construction on the projects must begin within the next four to five years, Hydro officials said Thursday.

The deal still requires regulatory approval on both sides of the border, and they face a lengthy process of public reviews over the impact they could have on the environment.

The environmental review process can take years; it took fives years for the federal government to complete its review of the Wuskwatim hydro dam, as well as two years of review by Manitoba's Clean Environment Commission.

Doer wants to speed up the process, saying other provinces seem to have their reviews done faster with new coal plants.

"There is something wrong when fossil fuel projects]get approved in Canada that pollute the air, dirty coal get approved four time faster than renewable energy," he said.

But environmentalist Gaile Whelan-Enns say that time is needed to collect proper science and community input.

"You can't speed this up," she said. "If you speed up the environmental reviews, we're going to make mistakes in our decisions, we're going to affect communities, and we're going to affect lakes and rivers where we didn't get it right."

Eastern projects belie western transmission line: Tories

Meanwhile, the Opposition says the Wisconsin sale once again highlights the need to rethink the western Manitoba route the province intends to use for the BiPole III, Hydro's third high-voltage direct-current transmission line.

The line has been the subject of intense controversy since provincial officials announced last year that it would take a longer, more expensive route through the west side of the province, rather than cutting a shorter route through prime boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

"Basic geography tells us that Minnesota and Wisconsin are to the east," said Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen.

The power being generated is in the northeast of Manitoba. It will leave Manitoba through a converter station to be built east of Winnipeg. And, once again, the NDP have highlighted the absolute lunacy of building a line down the west side of the province."

Provincial officials said they don't plan to change their minds on the matter.