Manitoba Hydro signs deal with Xcel Energy
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - Manitoba Hydro, the province's electric utility, has signed an agreement with American customers worth an estimated $3 billion over the course of 10 years.
The deal, announced recently in Winnipeg, still needs to clear a variety of Canadian and American regulatory hurdles. If the approvals come, the delivery of electric power would begin in 2015.
The deal involves an existing customer of Manitoba Hydro, called Xcel Energy, based in Minneapolis.
"This agreement builds on an energy trading relationship that spans three decades and is another boost for our export markets," Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger is quoted as saying in a media release about the deal.
"Revenues will continue to flow to Manitoba to help support low rates for all Manitoba customers," Bob Brennan, the president and CEO of Manitoba Hydro added. Under the agreement, Xcel Energy will purchase between 375 and 500 mega-watts of power from Manitoba Hydro.
Xcel Energy supplies electricity to about 3.4 million customers in eight states in the U.S. west and mid-west.
Related News
Ontario government wants new gas plants to boost electricity production
TORONTO - The Ontario government is preparing to expand gas-fired power plants in Ontario; a move critics say will make the province's electricity system dirtier and could eventually leave taxpayers on the hook.
The province is currently soliciting bids for additional gas-fired electricity generation, which means new gas plants get built, or existing gas plants get expanded.
It's poised to be Ontario's biggest increase in the gas-fired power supply in more than a decade since the previous Liberal government scrapped two gas plants, in Mississauga and Oakville, at a cost the auditor general pegged at around $1 billion.
Doug Ford's energy minister, Todd…
