Manitoba Tories say an advertising campaign from the province’s hydro utility is an insult.
Opposition Leader Brian Pallister said Manitoba Hydro should not be spending $750,000 on ads that encourage new energy projects when questions are being raised about their viability.
The ads promote the company’s plans to spend more than $18 billion over the next dozen years to build two generating stations and a transmission line.
Pallister said soft export markets could see the utility selling that electricity at a loss, and he wants the projects delayed while they are reviewed.
Manitoba Hydro has said export markets will rebound and even domestic demand will require new dams within a decade.
It has admitted that consumers will have to pay more for the projects – it predicts 3.9% increases in hydro rates for the foreseeable future.
