WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba hydroelectricity rates must remain affordable, partly in order to help people switch from other fuels and to help the environment.
Kinew’s NDP government promised a one-year rate freeze on electricity in the last election, and Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro says it will ask provincial regulators to keep rates frozen this year.
The utility also says it needs money to maintain and upgrade infrastructure, and has commissioned an opinion poll with a number of options for the future.
One of the options is raising rates by $9 a month for the average residential customer.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives say the utility is deep in debt and a rate freeze this year means bigger-than-normal increases in the future.
Manitoba Hydro says the poll is simply taking the pulse of the public and does not outline any firm plans.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2025
