Kinew tells cabinet to try to make Manitoba Hydro 100% green by 2035, province emissions-free by 2050

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has asked his cabinet to try to wean Manitoba Hydro off its last gas-fired power plant by 2035 and to create a plan to make the province entirely carbon-neutral by 2050.

In a mandate letter handed to Environment and Climate Change Minister Tracy Schmidt on Oct. 19 — but only made public on Thursday — Kinew says he wants his cabinet to "work toward making our energy grid net-zero by 2035" and to "create a roadmap to meet net-zero targets by 2050."

The directive marks a departure from the previous Progressive Conservative government, whose energy roadmap, published in July, stated it was not feasible to wean Hydro off its last fossil fuel-burning electricity plant in the immediate future.

Right now, 97 per cent of Manitoba Hydro's energy production comes from hydroelectric power and other low-carbon sources. A natural gas-fuelled station in Brandon is responsible for the remaining three per cent of energy production.

The former PC government also did not forecast a target to make Manitoba carbon-neutral.

By using terms such as "work toward" and "roadmap" rather than more definitive language, the mandate letter does not require cabinet to ensure Manitoba meets the new goals.

The directives are nonetheless welcome, said engineer Curt Hull, project director at Climate Change Connection.

"These are pretty vague, but at least they set the right targets. Previously, we have never seen that kind of directive, to look for net-zero," Hull said Friday in an interview.

He also praised a Kinew promise to ensure 5,000 homes have geothermal heating. Reducing the consumption of electricity by ensuring entire new neighbourhoods rely on geothermal heat instead of electricity or gas is the most efficient way to reduce carbon emissions, Hull said.

Kinew agreed with that assessment.

"The biggest return on any investment we make comes from helping Manitobans to decarbonize their home heating," Kinew told reporters Friday.

The Progressive Conservatives, however, are concerned the Kinew government might be pushing Manitoba Hydro to wean itself entirely off natural gas too quickly, resulting in costly changes to the power grid.

"At the end of the day, there's going to be a cost for that and Manitoba ratepayers are going to have to pay it," said PC Hydro critic Grant Jackson, the new MLA for Spruce Woods.

Jackson said he is waiting to see the mandate letter for Adrien Sala, the NDP minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, to see how his directives line up with those handed to Schmidt.