Manitoba government runs ads on electricity rate freeze that has not been approved

A billboard in Winnipeg, from the provincial government, advertises a proposed Manitoba Hydro rate freeze on Jan. 21, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)

The Manitoba government is running an advertising campaign to tout a freeze on electricity rates even though the freeze has yet to be approved and could be rejected.

The ads, including social media pictures and billboards, say the one-year freeze started Jan. 1 and helps lower costs for Manitobans.

Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro plans to seek a one-year rate freeze on electricity this year but has not yet filed a request with the Public Utilities Board.

The board is the provincial regulator, and it can accept, deny or alter such proposals.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives accused the NDP government Tuesday of using taxpayer dollars to mislead people.

“Essentially, the NDP is propping themselves up and patting themselves on the back, and I believe that those taxpayers' dollars could be better spent elsewhere like education, affordability measures -- things like that,” Lauren Stone, Opposition hydro critic, said.

Finance Minister Adrien Sala, who is the minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, said the utility has worked to make the rate freeze achievable. He also said the ads remind people of a promise kept.

“We committed to bringing in this rate freeze and we’re able to deliver on that for 2025, so we want to make sure that Manitobans know that this rate freeze is going to be in place,” Sala said.

Christopher Adams, a political analyst at the University of Manitoba, said governments are often quick to promote good news, but said the ad campaign is an error.

“It is a mistake. They shouldn’t be advertising stuff that’s not properly approved,” said Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies.

The NDP promised the rate freeze during the 2023 election campaign. Since then, Manitoba Hydro’s finances have taken a hit.

An expected profit in the last fiscal year turned into a $157-million loss, due in large part to low water levels. The government forecast a profit at Hydro this fiscal year, but that also took a downturn and the latest estimate is a $164-million loss.

Manitoba Hydro is already close to $25 billion in debt and faces a looming need to develop more energy production. Credit rating agencies have warned that the Crown corporation has higher debt levels than similar utilities in other provinces.

To help with the rate freeze, the NDP government last year eliminated a debt-reduction target the Public Utilities Board had to consider when setting rates.

The utility’s most recent rate hike, last year, was one per cent.

A consumers' coalition, made up of three non-profit groups, has said a rate freeze this year could necessitate a big rate increase next year to keep Manitoba Hydro’s finances from slipping.

The utility has said it will file, sometime before April, a request to the regulatory board for a rate freeze this year and yet-to-be determined rate aspirations for future years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2025