Manitoba Hydro

Behind the power

Its 5:00 am, just barely awake you flip on the light. I am sure you're last thought is where dose that electricity comes from? Most people could probably name their electric company or maybe even the local electric power plant, but in actuality the energy you consume every day could possibly be traveling more then a thousand miles from another country. The fact is that Manitoba Hydro, a Canadian company, sells nearly 40 percent of the energy they produce to the U.S. And every time you flip on that light switch you are powering a heated debate of people, animals and ascetics verses demand, development and economics

The flooding caused by the hydro electric dams in total covers about .19 percent of Manitoba. This is according to a study done by Manitoba hydro and published in a article defending "inaccurate accusations" against Manitoba hydro (Just 8). This may seem like a localized problem to some, but to the aboriginal inhabitants of that area it is a very big issue. The flooding is needed to produce enough energy to power Manitoba and to sell to the U.S. But it also brings up the question of what are the real costs of electricity? Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy, a group devoted to the well being of the environment, say, that the major issues include the degradation of the aboriginal's way of life and the detrimental effects on the environment and animals (Me3 1). But in actuality the localized issues related to the flooding, are acceptable in consideration of the clean efficient energy Manitoba Hydro produces, and should continue to produce as consumer needs grow.

1914 began the initial construction of Manitoba's first hydroelectric dam and furthermore the growth of hydro electricity as the dominate energy source for Manitoba. The controversy of the flooding and the effects it has on the land and people would not completely surface until 1958, when major construction started on the Grand Rapids generating station (Limestone 1). Even more issues came about in 1977 with the signing of the northern flood agreement (Legislative 3). The newest hydroelectric dam is the Limestone Generating Station, on the Nelson River of Northern Manitoba. Massive in size and in electrical output, it spans nearly 300 meters and retains 2,900,000 cubic meters of water (Limestone 1). The limestone station has ten turbines that each can power 12,000 homes (Limestone 1). With the growing demand for electricity domestically and internationally Manitoba hydro was driven to spend the 1.48 billon Canadian dollars to build this dam to provide the needed energy (Limestone1).

The U.S. has been an electrical trade partner with Manitoba since 1970 when the first "230 kV interchange that stretched from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Grand Forks, North Dakota (History)." By the 1980's the third power line, carrying 500 kv of electricity, stretched all the way down to Elk River, Minnesota connecting up to United Power Associates (now Greater River Energy). Bob Brennan, the CEO of Manitoba Hydro, recently said in a letter he released that the company currently sells about 40 percent of there power they generate to the U.S. Much of the power going to Minnesota's utilities, such as "Xcel Energy (formerly, Northern States Power), Minnesota Power, Great River Energy, Otter Tail Power Company and Minnkota Power Cooperative" (Brennan 4).

Manitoba hydro, through the use of the renewable energy source of water, has "prevented 157 million tons" of green house gases, which would have been created by other fossil fuel methods of electric generation (Addressing 1). Hydroelectricity is a very efficient way of generating energy, therefore being able to avidly compete, in cost, with other forms of energy production such as coal, nuclear, and garbage incineration. Manitoba Hydro is also working with a new innovative way of transmitting electricity; they are currently using direct current (DC) to transmit large amounts of electricity over long distances. This cuts down on electrical waste, and allows for smaller gauge wires, saving on materials.

In addition hydroelectricity does not create poisons gas or solid waste, which is a major issue in the use of nuclear and fossil fuel energy prediction methods. Coal as a fossil fuel creates waste in the form of coal residue and CO2 gases. Nuclear energy leaves radioactive isotopes that can be dangerous for many thousands of years. In fact, according to The Nuclear Waste Primer, a guide book published to make citizens aware of the danger of radioactivity, uranium-238 has a half-life (half will have changed in to a different element) of 4.5 billon years (League 25). Using hydro energy can prevent these dangerous results and long term problems that are associated with other energy sources.

Besides not creating waste, hydroelectricity stimulates trade between the U.S. and Canada. Minnesota and Manitoba have a balance of trade in natural rescores; Minnesota consumes much of the Canadian energy created by hydroelectricity, and Canada purchase almost 54 percent of the iron ore Minnesota produces, according to a geological survey published in 2001 (Kirk1).

Manitoba Hydro is government run, unlike U.S. energy companies which are privately or publicly healed, and heavily regulated by the government. The government nature of helps Manitoba Hydro to keep electricity available to every one, where as private companies may have more developed interests in making profits rather then providing equal services and developing important trade relationships.

One of the services Manitoba Hydro has taken on is maintaining the aesthetics of, the power lines that crisscross the province and the other associated buildings. To some residents the issue is that the massive steel structures slice through the pristine wilderness of Manitoba, and yet other residences are concerned with the power lines incorporation in to the cityscape of Winnipeg. There is also a current debate over moving the now spread out 1,800 employs, to one central location; which would be a 600,000 square foot building, located in downtown Winnipeg, and some people have apprehensions about incorporating that large of a building in to the cityscape (SCHMEICHEL 1).

Manitoba Hydro covers a very large area and having power lines that cross through the wilderness is a necessity to efficiently transmit power (Just 1). Manitoba Hydro also has submitted three plans for the new 600,000 square foot building, to make sure to accommodate everyone's specific needs (SCHMEICHEL 1).

In addition to the power lines, flooding is the major issue with the development of Manitoba's hydro electric system. Currently about 302,000 acres of land is being flooded by the generating stations. Most of the flooding is in vastly "unpopulated"