In his Oct. 14 article Time for a reality check on Hydro's big-project meter, former premier and minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro Ed Schreyer expresses grave concerns about Hydro's current expansion plans.
Schreyer can speak with some authority on the subject, having overseen Manitoba Hydro during a time that resulted in the creation of major policy decisions that influenced significant hydro, gas-fired and coal-generating infrastructure.
In 2015, as Schreyer adroitly states, Manitoba faces the spectre of dramatically different economic, fiscal and competitive realities.
Many hydro experts, including Schreyer, have justifiably expressed concerns regarding the economic viability, timing and the escalating construction cost-to-sale-price ratios of Manitoba Hydro's multibillion-dollar expansion projects in the north. The ill-conceived construction of the increasingly cost-prohibitive Bipole III transmission line is also grounds for sounding the alarm bells.
When a former Manitoba premier -- and a man who has devoted his life to implementation of sustainable energy and resource-development strategies -- suggests it is prudent to do a reality check on the current government's massive expansion plans, it behooves us to listen because of the financial burden and risk that we are imposing on future generations of Manitobans.