The federal government has approved the massive transmission line project that will ship excess Manitoba hydroelectricity south of the border, following months of discussions between Manitoba and Ottawa.
The transmission line will link northern Manitoba generating stations through the Bipole III transmission line and across the states' border. The line is expected to increase Manitoba’s electricity capacity to 3,185 megawatts, up from 2,300 megawatts.
The approval comes after the National Energy Board recommended approving the project. The Board put 28 conditions on the project, with five of them needing to be amended to accommodate Indigenous group concerns.
The federal government says that at least 20 per cent of construction contracts had to involve purchases from Indigenous suppliers, contact with Indigenous subcontractors and the employment and training of Indigenous workers.
The project has met a lot of pushback from the federal government due to the potential impacts on Indigenous communities.
The federal government extended the deadline for approval of the project, citing more time is needed to review deals made with the Manitoba Metis Federation that were kyboshed by Premier Brian Pallister.
Manitoba Hydro and the MMF had agreed to a $67.5-million deal that was supposed to gather support for future hydroelectricity projects. Premier Brian Pallister called the deal “persuasion money” and cancelled the agreement.
Pallister also scrapped a $20-million deal called Turning the Page that was agreed to by the province, Hydro, and the MMF. That deal included terms that would have seen $20 million transferred to the MMF over 20 years in return for their support of Hydro activities such as the Bipole III line and the Keeyask generation project.
The MMF filed for a court review of the province’s decision to quash the deal, hoping the courts would overturn it.
The province approved an environmental licence for the project in April. Shortly after it asked the federal government to approve the project quickly to avoid delays that the province stated would cost Manitoba taxpayers $200 million a year in related costs.
