1942 MANITOBA FARM ELECTRIFICATION ENQUIRY COMMISSION was formed. World War II brought about a shortage of hired farm help, and the farmers, finding it increasingly difficult to handle their work single-handedly, finally presented a petition to MPC demanding electricity. The Manitoba Farm Electrification Enquiry Commission was subsequently formed in 1942 to investigate the feasibility of a postwar program of Farm Electrification. It recommended that a program — designed to ultimately service 90 per cent of all farms in Manitoba within a practical service area — be undertaken on a group or area basis. The plan was put into operation immediately after the war in 1945.

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1944 NEEPAWA AND DAUPHIN JOIN THE MANITOBA POWER COMMISSION. MPC took over the distribution system of the town of Neepawa and power network service began on May 1.

In Dauphin, MPC took over the town's existing steam generating station and distribution system. Power network service began December 1 via the Minnedosa to Dauphin transmission line.

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1945 FARM ELECTRIFICATION BEGAN following an MPC trial survey to determine the interest of farmers in an electrification program. Based on the 1942 Manitoba Farm Electrification Enquiry Commission, a test project was made involving the extension of service to nearly 1,000 farms located in different areas. The success of the test project prompted a full-scale effort during the next decade to supply electricity to southern rural Manitoba.

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1948 THE MANITOBA WATER POWER COMMISSION REPORT, also known as the Hogg Report, was published. By the end of World War II — after some 15 years of the Depression and the war — both the Winnipeg Electric Company (WECo). and the City of Winnipeg Hydro Electric System (City Hydro), were experiencing the pressures of an expanding economy. It was also becoming evident that with an intensified program to bring electrical service to rural Manitoba, the generating capacity contracted to MPC would soon become inadequate.

Thus, in 1947, the provincial government appointed a royal commission, chaired by Dr. T. H. Hogg, to study Manitoba's electrical industry and to submit a report on the best way to ensure adequate generating capacity. Hogg's report, presented in 1948, advocated that the future capital costs of high-cost electrical power development should be merged with the existing low-cost electrical power.

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1949 MANITOBA HYDRO-ELECTRIC BOARD DEVELOPMENT ACT was passed. Following the Hogg Report, WECo., City Hydro, MPC, and the Government of Manitoba finally agreed that the future power requirements of the province would be best served by a coordinated policy on developing and supplying electrical energy. In the absence of any immediate reorganization plan of the province's electrical industry, the end result of that decision was the formation of the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (MHEB) as an agency of the provincial government. The first responsibility of MHEB was to proceed immediately with the construction of a hydroelectric generating station at Pine Falls on the Winnipeg River.

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Making farm work easier and life more comfortable

The Farm Electrification program, introduced by the Manitoba Power Commission (MPC), greatly increased a farmer's productivity and made his life and that of his family much more comfortable.

Hen house lighting lengthened winter days allowing flocks to eat more and therefore lay more eggs. Electric pumps helped keep water running for livestock. Electric motors could power threshing and grain handling machinery. Electric yard and shed lights extended the farmer's days. For the farm wife, the convenience of electric appliances, running water, and sewage systems lightened her workload.

No more would farm families have to take the term “candle power” literally for reading and bookkeeping. Electricity replaced kerosene and oil for lighting and heating, and wood for cooking. Instead of relying on dugouts in the ground, or root cellars, or ice boxes to preserve food, refrigerators and freezers were used. In fact, farmers and their families often developed new, labour-saving machines themselves once electricity was connected to their farms. Homemade electric lawn mowers, wood splitters and other pieces of equipment were developed by innovative minds.

It was an exciting time for farm families and for MPC employees alike. Margaret Shaw, who worked as an MPC Home Economist from 1950 to 1952, remembered, “It was an incredibly exciting time for us, and we really felt we were doing something that would help people. We would set out on two-week-long field trips in two big trucks filled with electric appliances, and each day we would set up on someone's farm. The people would come from all around to see us demonstrating the equipment. The men would go out to the barn, and the women would come into the kitchen to see how electric equipment and appliances could be used on the farm.”

From the time of its inception in 1919, MPC had been trying to distribute electricity to rural towns and farms. Some farms had been connected to the electrical system in the early twenties – at great expense to the farmers themselves. The electrical service was uneconomical for MPC to provide because those farms connected did not use enough electricity to justify the connection. Efforts to bring electricity to the farms ended in the late twenties when farmers were unable to pay their electricity bills due to drought conditions and the Depression.

As farmers in Manitoba struggled back to financial stability after about 10 years of drought and depressed economic times, World War II began. Their recovery was jeopardized when productivity dropped. Young farm workers went into the armed services, and those who remained at home and needed help to maintain viable farms realized that electricity could assist in making up for the shortage of farm workers. Farmers from all over Manitoba petitioned the provincial government to provide them with electrical service.

Even with the war going on and with shortages of materials needed for constructing transmission lines, the government listened. In 1942, the Manitoba Farm Electrification Enquiry Commission was asked to look into the feasibility of starting Farm Electrification after the war. The Commission recommended that a Farm Electrification program be designed, through which about 90 per cent of all farms in Manitoba — that is, those within a practical service area — be connected to the provincial power system. The Farm Electrification program was born.

By the time the program ended in 1954, Manitoba had the distinction of being western Canada's most completely electrified province. This historic accomplishment is amazing, considering the fact that only about 1,000 of 50,000 farms in Manitoba enjoyed the benefits of electrical service in 1942.

Economics was one of the key reasons for the success of the program. The line extensions would be free of cost to the farmer, who would pay only for wiring in his building and power consumption costs. The minimum monthly bill would be about $3.60. This was not entirely an additional expense, because over half of the $3.60 replaced other costs, such as coal-oil for lamps and radio battery charging.

In addition to extension lines being built free of charge to the farmer, another economic advantage was being able to use the provincial power system — built for delivering electricity to the towns and villages during the 1920s and 1930s — as a foundation on which to build electrical service for farms.

Technology also played a role in the success of MPC's Farm Electrification program in two ways. One was that new materials and construction methods reduced the cost of erecting lines over vast areas. The other was the development and growing acceptance of home electric appliances, which meant the assurance of greater revenue from electrical service for farms than was previously possible.

The actual execution of the program was a tremendous example of cooperation between municipalities, their citizens, and MPC. It began with a trial survey being conducted in a typical municipality in 1943. The following year, 15,000 farmers were contacted through municipal councils and local Farm Electrification committees. In each area to be served, the local groups provided detailed information about each farm. Those who were most anxious to have the benefits of electrical service persuaded their neighbours to sign up for electricity so the minimum number of contracts required for electrical service to their area could be attained quickly.

The next step was to provide farmers with basic information about wiring homes and buildings. “Wire once, not once a year” was the advice given, in order that each farmer would have his buildings adequately wired to reap the full benefits of electrical service.

The success of Farm Electrification changed life on the farm forever — and for the better.

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