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1960 KELSEY GENERATING STATION, THE FIRST HYDROELECTRIC PLANT TO BE DEVELOPED on the Nelson River in northern Manitoba, went into service on June 23. The generating station was built by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (MHEB) to supply the power requirements of the International Nickel Company's townsite and mining, smelting and refining operation in Thompson. The original installation of five, 32-MW generators was completed in 1961. Between 1969 and 1972, two more units were added, bringing the total capacity to 224 MW. The operating head, or waterfall, at Kelsey was 16.2 m.
THE MANITOBA POWER COMMISSION (MPC) assumed responsibility for the distribution of electricity in the town of Churchill, which had been supplied previously by the National Harbour Board from its elevator operations. MPC used power secured from the federal government's military diesel generating station at Fort Churchill — that is until the responsibility for producing power was taken over by Manitoba Hydro in 1968.
FIRST MANITOBA TO SASKATCHEWAN INTERCONNECTION went into service on November 29 by means of a 138-kV transmission line between Brandon Generating Station and Saskatchewan Power Corporation's Boundary Dam Thermal Generating Station near Estevan. The line was to be increased to 230 kV in 1968. Subsequent agreements have since been made between the two provinces.
SELKIRK GENERATING STATION, the second coal-fired plant built by MHEB, started delivering power on October 1 with the first of its two 66-MW steam turbine generators. It is located in East Selkirk, which is about 20 km eastwards of Winnipeg. In 1967, the first of two gas turbines, each capable of producing 12.5 MW, were added to provide additional capacity for emergencies and peak load periods. However, these gas turbines were de-commissioned in 1988.
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1961 FORMATION OF MANITOBA HYDRO took place when the Government of Manitoba united the two provincial utilities, MHEB and MPC, through the enactment of the Manitoba Hydro Act, which was passed by the Manitoba legislature, effective April 1. This brought the organization of electrical utilities in the province to its present state — Manitoba Hydro being responsible for providing electrical service throughout Manitoba, except for the central portion of the City of Winnipeg, which is serviced by Winnipeg Hydro.
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1963 STUDY OF THE HYDROELECTRIC POTENTIAL OF THE NELSON RIVER began. On February 18, the province of Manitoba entered into an approximately $1.3-million cost-sharing agreement with the Government of Canada to investigate the feasibility of hydroelectric development on the Nelson River. A Nelson River Programming Board was set up to carry out the investigations. Its report, tabled in the Parliament of Canada and in the Manitoba legislature in 1964, led to a second agreement for a further $3-million study that was to be completed by 1966.
Also in 1963, Manitoba Hydro, in agreement with both levels of government, commissioned G.E. Crippen & Associates to investigate the economic feasibility of developing hydroelectric generating stations on the lower Nelson River, which is the stretch of the Nelson River from Split Lake to Hudson Bay.
NORTHERN COMMUNITIES SERVED BY DIESEL GENERATION. Norway House in northern Manitoba received power for the first time by means of an independent diesel generating station. The community became connected to the provincial power system 10 years later.
Norway House was the first native community to receive electrical service under a Northern Electrification program — a program that is still going on in cooperation with the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Since the program began, several communities served by diesel generating stations have had their electrical services upgraded, while others have been transferred from diesel generation to the provincial power system as a result of expanding transmission line facilities in the north.
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1964 MANITOBA HYDRO AND THE MID-CONTINENT AREA POWER PLANNERS (MAPP) signed a memo of understanding for possible interconnecting transmission lines to carry large-scale exchanges of power to U.S. utilities. At this time, MAPP consisted of 22 public and investor owned electrical utilities operating in the central and northcentral states.
CITY HYDRO, the name commonly used over the years to identify the City of Winnipeg Hydro Electric System, was changed to Winnipeg Hydro.
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1965 GRAND RAPIDS GENERATING STATION, located on the Saskatchewan River about four kilometres from Lake Winnipeg, was officially opened on November 13. Its three units produced a total capacity of 330 MW. The generating station was re-rated to 339 MW in 1966, and to 354 MW in 1967. In 1968, the final unit was placed in service bringing the total capacity to 472 MW. Grand Rapids operated with a 36.6-m head, or waterfall — the largest in Manitoba. The giant Kaplan turbines and generators at Grand Rapids were the largest installed in North America for this size of operating head.
One of the most challenging problems in developing the forebay at Grand Rapids was the prevalence of limestone and dolomite in the region. To prevent water from seeping out of the storage area through numerous crevices and separations found in limestone, it was necessary to form an underground seal beneath the dykes. Over 99,909 tonnes of cement were used in the sealing or “grouting” program, one of the largest of its kind ever attempted in the world.
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1966 DEVELOPMENT OF THE NELSON RIVER was started. As a result of the Nelson River Programming Board's investigations that began in 1963, the federal and provincial governments entered into an agreement February 15, 1966, to jointly undertake the development of the hydroelectric potential of the Nelson River.
The federal government's participation in the program was to finance direct current transmission line facilities for bringing power from northern Manitoba to the southern areas. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited was assigned to act as the federal government's agency in the construction of the line.
Manitoba Hydro was to repay the federal government over a period of 50 years. In 1992, Manitoba Hydro bought out the remaining years of the financing arrangement. With the agreement in place, Manitoba Hydro began to develop the site on the Nelson River where Kettle Generating Station was to be built.
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1967 NELSON POWER CONNECTED TO THE PROVINCIAL POWER SYSTEM with the completion of a 230-kV transmission line between Kelsey Generating Station on the Nelson River and Grand Rapids Generating Station on the Saskatchewan River. The 328-km line was built primarily to supply International Nickel's new Soab Lake mine 75 km southwest of Thompson.
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1968 FIRST GENERAL RATE INCREASE in 57 years went into effect for all meter readings taken after July 15. The increase was required to raise $3.3 million in additional annual revenue, needed to maintain financial reserves. In addition to increasing Manitoba Hydro's total revenue by six per cent, the new rate schedule reduced variations in rates.
THE PAS DIESEL GENERATING STATION was retired when the town was connected to the provincial power system by means of the new 230-kV and 115-kV transmission lines from Grand Rapids. The generating station — which had served the community since 1914 and was taken over by MPC in 1958 — was subsequently retired.
MANITOBA HYDRO ACQUIRED THE CHURCHILL DIESEL GENERATING STATION from the federal Department of Public Works. Since 1960, the utility had been responsible for only the distribution of power in the town.
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1969 NORTHERN MICROWAVE SYSTEM was completed when the final link in a 1,011-km-long microwave system from Winnipeg to Gillam was finished. A joint venture of the Manitoba Telephone System and Manitoba Hydro, the system was designed primarily for controlling the DC transmission of Nelson River power to the south. In addition, the microwave system improved north to south telecommunications, and brought live television to northern residents.
The microwave system follows a route northward through the Interlake area to Grand Rapids, then heads northeast via Thompson to Gillam, where it terminates at Manitoba Hydro's Radisson Converter Station.
A second microwave system, following a route on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, was completed in 1977.
[ top ] Manitoba Hydro created
Through the passage of the Manitoba Hydro Act in 1961, the utility was set up as a Crown Corporation — an agency of Her Majesty the Queen through which the Government of Manitoba provides power to meet the electricity needs of the province. As a Crown Corporation, Manitoba Hydro is a commercial organization in its own right. It is a publicly owned utility that is responsible to the provincial government, but operates as a separate entity. The people of the province are the shareholders of the utility. They are also its customers.
Manitoba Hydro submits quarterly financial statements and an annual report to the Manitoba legislature rather than to a meeting of shareholders. The Manitoba legislature refers the documents to the standing Committee on Public Utilities and Natural Resources.
The provincial government has three main methods for controlling Manitoba Hydro's policy and its activities: through the appointment of the members of the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (MHEB); the utility's limit to capital borrowing is, from time to time, set by legislation; the requirement that certain extraprovincial electricity sales require cabinet approval. Also, Manitoba Hydro is subject to several licensing requirements of the provincial government.
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