CREATING AN OUTDOOR OASIS PUT THE PIZZAZZ BACK INTO YOUR PATIO {page 15}
IT’S WILDE BRADLEY COOPER’S GOT SOME NEW ARM CANDY
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WINNIPEG
Thursday, May 26, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
Megawatt deal worth $4B
JAMES TURNER/METRO
15-year agreement with Minnesota still needs regulatory approval Hydro also signed six-year deal with Wisconsin Manitoba has inked the most lucrative deal in the province’s history to store wind power and send electricity to Minnesota. The 15-year deal, worth $4 billion, is to start in 2020 after the construction of a new hydro dam. “This is the largest dollar sale of exports that we’ve had in the history of Manitoba Hydro in absolute dollar terms,” Premier Greg Selinger said yesterday. “Today is a day worth celebrating.” Under the agreement, Manitoba Hydro will sell 250 megawatts from 2020 to 2035. It will also import wind energy from the state and store it, selling it back to Minnesota when demand for energy grows. The deals underline the importance of building a new transmission line along the west side of Lake Manitoba, Selinger said. The proposed route has been hotly debated. Some believe it disrupts too many properties and should be built in the eastern part of the province, which the NDP government is hoping will
become a UNESCO world heritage site. Manitoba exports about 40 per cent of its energy — 2,000 megawatts — and these deals will boost that by another 20 per cent, Selinger said. Manitoba Hydro CEO Bob Brennan said the province’s power is increasingly in demand as American states start regulating how much of their energy must come from renewable sources. “The Wisconsin legislature just approved large hydro to be a renewable source,” he said. “As that happens in more and more states, our product will be much more valuable.” In a release, Minnesota Power said the deal fits with the utility’s “strategy of lessening its dependence on carbon-based generation.” “Buying hydroelectric power from Manitoba Hydro is the lowest-cost option for meeting the electric demands of its customers in the 2020 timeframe,” the statement said. THE CANADIAN PRESS
Premier Greg Selinger announces Manitoba Hydro’s most lucrative deal in its history.