Hydro report bolsters decision on west-side hydro line, says province

Manitoba Finance Minister Greg Selinger released a studyThursday that he saidvalidated the province's plans to build a hydroelectric transmission line down the west side of Manitoba, rather than the east.

The report, which examined routing options for the power line, was commissioned by Manitoba Hydroamid public debate over whether the line should run down the east side of Lake Winnipeg or through western Manitoba.

While the western route is longer and will cost more, the report emphasizes the threat to export markets and theboreal forestif the line were to run down the east side.

Building the line to the east would undermine efforts toearn a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for the boreal forest, the report says, adding the forest on the west side of the lake is more developed than on the east, so less harm would be caused.

Keeping the transmission line out of the forest could become a "cause célèbre" that would make it difficult to sellelectricity toexport markets, consideringthere isalready "a strong anti-Manitoba Hydro environmental lobby in Minnesota,"the report says.

"In discussing the routing options, it's important to take into consideration all of the relevant social, economic, technical and environmental factors," Selinger said in a release.

"In the end, the west side will improve reliability and protect our exports and the environment."

Critics from the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party say the power line, known as BiPole III, should run on the east side because the shorter, moredirect routewould bemore cost- and energy-efficient.

A west-side line would take two more years to construct, involve more consultations with communities, and be more vulnerable to power interruptions due to weather, the Tories said Wednesday.

"This is a generational issue, one which our children and grandchildren will be left to foot the bill for,"McFadyen said in a release.

More power lost over longer route

Provincial officials announced in September that BiPole III, Manitoba Hydro's third high-voltage, direct-current transmission line, will run west of Lake Manitoba, rather than cutting a shorter route through boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

The route down the western side of the province is longer and will cost hundreds of millions more to build, and it's estimated Manitoba Hydro will forfeit an additional hundreds of millions of dollars in power lost as the electricity makes the longer journey south.

The precise route for the $2-billion line will be determined after an environmental, design and public consultation process that is expected to take several years.

About three-quarters of Manitoba Hydro's electricity production is currently supplied through two transmission lines that run from Gillam to Winnipeg through the Interlake area, between the province's two large lakes.

Once complete in 2017, BiPole III will provide a backup to those lines and carry power from planned generating stations to southern Manitoba and export markets.