Manitoba Hydro looks to battle drought, debt, and looming expenses

Allan Danroth, Manitoba Hydro's president and chief executive officer, speaks in Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Lambert

WINNIPEG — The head of Manitoba Hydro says the Crown-owned utility is facing dry conditions and low water levels as it aims to expand generating capacity and replace aging infrastructure.

Hydro president and chief executive officer Allan Danroth told a legislature committee the utility has faced severe drought in three of the last four years, which leaves less water to generate electricity and reduces export sales.

The utility posted a consolidated net loss of $63 million in the last fiscal year and is forecasting a loss of $464 million in the current one, which ends in March.

The red ink comes at a time when Manitoba Hydro is on a multi-year, $7-billion plan to replace and upgrade aging transmission systems.

It is also looking for more power generation so that it can continue to meet peak demand times into the next decade.

Danroth told the committee plans are proceeding to buy 600 megawatts of power from new wind farms, which are to be majority Indigenous-owned.

“We are moving very aggressively through a timeline, actually much more aggressive than a lot of our other jurisdictions,” Danroth said Tuesday.

“But nevertheless, we just want to try to get the first ... one, two, three installations out of the way before committing to anything further.”

The utility put out a call for qualified potential suppliers in the fall and is finalizing that list, Danroth said. A first request for proposals from those on the approved list is expected in March, with further opportunities in future years. The utility is also planning to build new generating capacity of its own in western Manitoba.

Hydro faced a sharp rise in debt over a decade ago as a new transmission line and generating station ran well over budget. Consecutive years of financial losses have added to the red ink. About 30 per cent of annual revenues goes to servicing the utility’s $25.3-billion debt, Danroth told the committee.

Hydro is also facing the cost of upgrading its major technology platform that could total $193 million, documents filed with the Public Utilities Board show. The current system is less than two years away from no longer being supported by the manufacturer.

“It’s at its end of life,” Danroth said

To help boost revenues, Hydro applied to the Public Utilities Board, the provincial regulator, for annual rate increases of 3.5 per cent for three consecutive years. The board approved a four per cent hike as of Jan. 1 but has yet to set rates for the following two years.

Hydro has also floated the idea of charging residential customers different rates at different times of day, to try to persuade people to shift some of their energy use away from times when demand peaks. The idea, used in some areas of Ontario, can reduce maximum energy demand and delay the need to build new generating capacity.

Hydro had a public-opinion poll on the issue last year and more than half the respondents said they would consider adjusting when they run a dishwasher, do laundry or charge an electric vehicle.

Danroth said there’s no imminent move to time-of-use rates. It would require new technology and any change would be discussed with the utility’s board and the provincial government, Danforth said.

“That poll ... was really just to try to understand what our customers were thinking more than anything,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2026.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press