New energy Crown will pay for itself: minister
Thursday, March 09, 2017
Winnipeg Free Press
A new Crown corporation dedicated to reducing Manitoba's energy consumption will more than pay for itself if it can delay or eliminate construction of future hydroelectric dams, its main proponent says.
Crowns Minister Ron Schuler said he hopes to see the creation of Efficiency Manitoba within a year.
Schuler introduced a bill in the legislature Thursday to establish the new corporation, which would assume responsibility for the Power Smart programs now operated by Manitoba Hydro.
In doing so, the Progressive Conservative government is following a recommendation made years ago by the Public Utilities Board (PUB). The PUB felt there was an inherent conflict of interest in a seller of electricity and natural gas operating energy-conservation programs.
"Manitobans are the highest consumers of power electricity, bar none, in the world," Schuler said Thursday after introducing Bill 19 (The Efficiency Manitoba Act).
"We are going to have to start conserving electricity. We just can’t keep consuming more and more," he said, pointing to a recent $2.2-billion increase in the estimated cost of the Keeyask generating station on the Nelson River.
The creation of the new entity is being questioned by some who feel it's a waste of money at a time when the government is facing a financial crunch.
Schuler said start-up costs would be paid for, in part, by a $40-million fund that was created from unspent Power Smart program budgets over the years. The fund would be transferred to the new corporation.
He said revenues from the ongoing delivery of energy efficiency programs would also be used to fund the new corporation.
The minister said he could not say how much it would cost to create the new entity.
Schuler said Manitoba Hydro spent 43 per cent of its Power Smart budget on overhead. He said the new corporation will be told to keep such spending to below 20 per cent, with the savings going to the public.
As previously reported by the Free Press, Efficiency Manitoba would be given the mandate to achieve electrical energy savings of 1.5 per cent annually and natural gas savings of three-quarters of one per cent a year during the first 15 years of its operation.
Additional savings targets would be established by regulation for subsequent 15-year periods.
The new corporation would achieve these targets through a series of three-year plans that it prepared and submitted to the PUB.
Efficiency Manitoba could also be given new powers to initiate programs to reduce fossil fuels used in the transportation sector and the consumption of water.
Conceivably, the City of Winnipeg could approach the new corporation for water-efficiency programs and ideas, Schuler said. "It’s user pay, so the City of Winnipeg would pay for that."
The proposed legislation is coming at a time when the province is asking for Manitobans' input in the development of a system for pricing carbon. The Trudeau government has given the provinces until 2018 to adopt a carbon pricing plan to meet Canada's requirements under the Paris climate change accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We view Bill 19, Efficiency Manitoba, as the first plank in our green strategy," Schuler said.
Chris Mravinec, president of CUPE Local 998, which represents 1,100 inside workers at Manitoba Hydro, said "it seems redundant" to create a new Crown corporation to handle a job that is already being done by an existing Crown corporation.
He said up to 100 of the union's members are affected, directly or indirectly, by the proposed change. While some are likely to be transferred to the new entity, others could lose their jobs or face demotion, the union fears.
Mravinec questioned the use of surplus Power Smart program money to establish Efficiency Manitoba.
"That money is in the bank to be used for achieving energy-savings targets," he said. "It’s like taking money out of the bank to buy a car when you don’t need a new car."
Eric Reder, Manitoba campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, an environmental group, said he sees merit in a standalone agency tasked with reducing the province's energy use. He said he's keen on getting more details on how the new corporation would work.
"We know that this premier does not like to make extra government or make extra regulations. So I would assume that it’s not going to be a big bloated bureaucratic department," Reder said.
He said he hopes the creation of a new energy-efficiency corporation is the first step in a co-ordinated approach on moving Manitoba towards a low-carbon economy.
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