Tourism Winnipeg

16 TH E WINNIPEG INVE STOR Manitoba businesses enjoy some of North America's least expensive utility costs. Manitoba Hydro, the provincial Crown corporation that manages and supplies most of the province's energy, knows just how important their role is in investing for the future to keep this affordability differentiator one of the province's best-known business advantages. Manitoba Hydro serves the entire province's electrical and natural gas needs. With over 580,000 electric and over 280,000 natural gas customers, the utility operates in every corner of Manitoba, from Altona to Churchill – with a total service area of 650,000 square kilometres. As such, Manitoba Hydro is one of the largest vertically-integrated energy utilities in Canada. One of the corporation's strengths is its renewable energy resources, leveraging the massive scale of its hydroelectric plants to keep the lights on. The predominantly hydroelectric generation capacity of Hydro – which makes up 97 per cent of its overall power portfolio – means the utility can take pride in its clean, near-zero emissions generation business model. This gives Manitoba Hydro one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitting electrical systems on the continent. Serving customers is a key priority for Manitoba Hydro. Renewing the corporation's existing infrastructure, business practices and communications - to ensure efficient service — is always ongoing. In addition to serving customers within the province, Manitoba Hydro is active in four wholesale electricity markets in Canada and the United States, allowing the utility to export surplus energy. These exports, which generated over $2 billion in sales over the last five years, made up approximately 22 per cent of the corporation's revenues during the same time period. Without these exports to offset Manitoba Hydro's costs, rates would be higher in Manitoba. Through export sales, Manitoba Hydro also helps wholesale customers reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions through the reduction of their use of coal and enabling them to incorporate more intermittent renewables such as wind and solar into their energy portfolios. Manitoba Hydro's energy exports are an important part of the continent's energy grid. To ensure that reliability offered by Manitoba Hydro continues into the long term, the utility is constantly renewing and expanding its transmission and distribution infrastructure as required, while building new sources of supply such as the Keeyask Generating Station on the Nelson River. Plugging into long-term renewable energy Manitoba Hydro courtesy Manitoba Hydro

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