Manitoba Hydro sees $63M loss due to drought conditions: report

Manitoba Hydro is awash in red ink after an especially dry year, according to the Crown corporation’s annual report.

Hydro released its 2024/25 report on Friday, which shows a consolidated net loss of $63 million for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2025. It notes this is largely due to “low water year”.

The net loss is comprised of a $49 million loss in its electric segment, a $27 million loss in its natural gas segment, and a net income of $13 million from subsidiaries.

Hydro also noted that this year’s net loss is down from the previous fiscal year’s net loss of $157 million, explaining the improvement is largely due to lower fuel and power purchase costs, as well as increased domestic and electric natural gas revenues.

“This is the second low water year in a row and third Manitoba Hydro has experienced in four years,” said President and CEO Allan Danroth in a new release.

“While the financial impacts of the drought weren’t as severe as they were last year, these low water conditions once again led to less energy being available to sell in wholesale markets. They also meant we needed import power to meet customer requirements in Manitoba more than usual.”

The annual report also noted Manitoba Hydro finalized its new enterprise strategy at the end of February. This new direction focuses on six goals over the next three years, including enhancing employee experience, improving financial health, upgrading its computer software system, providing modern customer solutions, planning for new energy resources, and ensuring high-voltage direct current system reliability.

The full report is available online.