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DAM-L CBC and Star Tribune on Manitoba Hydro exports (fwd)
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Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 17:29:17 -0600
Subject: CBC and Star Tribune on Manitoba Hydro exports
Content-Disposition: inline
To: William J Braun/Winnipeg/MCC
From: Will Braun
Date: 12/01/2000 5:09:44 PM
Subj: CBC on Manitoba Hydro exports
CBC News
Cree claim victory in Hydro hearings
WebPosted Dec 1 2000 10:54 AM EST
ST. PAUL, MINN. - A big win for the environment.
That's how one environmental lawyer describes a
decision made Thursday by the Minnesota Public
Utilities Commission.
Andy Orkin says the Commission has decided to look at
assessing how energy projects affect the environment
and the people who live near them.
For years, electricity generated in Manitoba has
flowed to Minnesota, but the state's Public Utilities
Commission had never investigated the human impact -
the poverty, unemployment and suicide the Pimicikamak
Cree Nation attributes to Hydro development.
Orkin says the Commission's decision means that in
future, the impact of Manitoba Hydro's
hydroelectricity projects in the north will come under
closer scrutiny.
However, it doesn't affect Hydro in the short term.
The renewal of Hydro's current contract with Minnesota
was upheld.
Orkin says that's not of great concern to his client -
Pimicikamak Cree Nation, formerly Cross Lake.
"What PCN was much more concerned about was protecting
the Lake Winnipeg, Churchill, Nelson Rivers
environment, particularly in and around Pimicikamak
Cree Nation's traditional territory, against the
impacts of further large scale hydroelectric
development by Manitoba Hydro."
The hearing included presentations by PCN and
environmental groups in Minnesota.
Manitoba Hydro also made a presentation. It pointed to
the $400-million dollars Hydro spent over the past 20
years to compensate northern communities.
__________________________
CBC News
First Nation fighting Hydro deal to America
WebPosted Nov 30 2000 1:06 PM EST
ST. PAUL, MINN. - The Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission may launch an investigation into the human
costs of hydro power produced in Manitoba.
Lawyers for Manitoba Hydro and the Pimicikamak Cree
Nation at Cross Lake are in St. Paul arguing over the
issue.
The Commission is considering the investigation before
it approves a deal made earlier this year between
Hydro and Xcel power of Minnesota. Hydro outbid other
companies to provide 500 megawatts of electricity to
Xcel.
Electricity generated in Manitoba has flowed for years
into Minnesota, and the state's Public Utilities
Commission has never investigated the source before.
But earlier this year, when the state's main power
company, Xcel, accepted a bid by Manitoba Hydro to
extend a long-standing contract, Hydro's critics
convinced the commission to step in.
Glen Schneider, who speaks for Hydro, says the company
will point to its annual report, which already details
the real price of hydro - including the cost of
implementing the Northern Flood Agreement for five
northern communities.
"All those costs - somewhere in the order of $400
million over the last 20 years - have been spent in
addressing those socio-economic costs, and they have
now been built into the rates for power in Manitoba
and in the U.S."
The lawyer for the Pimicikamak Cree Nation calls
Schneiders argument deceptive. Andy Orkin says it
doesn't take into account the poverty, unemployment
and suicide the community attributes to Hydro
development.
"Compensation for PCN amounts to less than a dime a
day for each citizen whose life has been devastated.
They cannot buy a coffee and a doughnut."
The Utilities Commission could decide to OK the hydro
deal; investigate but allow it to go ahead; or put the
contract on hold indefinitely.
Schneider says Manitoba Hydro can always find another
buyer for the 500 megawatts, but its reputation is at
risk and losing the sale to its largest U.S. customer
could jeopardize its exports - worth more than $400
million a year.
Even if the Commission gives the contract the green
light, that decision can be appealed in U.S. Courts.
Orken says the Pimicikamak Cree Nation will consider
that.
------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesota PUC OKs proposal for purchase of Canadian power
Tom Meersman, Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 1, 2000
Minnesota officials gave the go-ahead Thursday to a controversial proposal
that would allow Xcel Energy Corp. to develop a final contract to continue
purchasing power generated by hydroelectric plants in Manitoba.
Environmental and religious organizations had attempted to delay the deal --
a renewal of a long-term 500-megawatt contract between Xcel and its
provider, Manitoba Hydro -- until a study could be done on the social and
economic costs of hydropower to tribes whose lands were flooded 25 years
ago.
Andrew Orkin, an attorney representing one of those tribes, the Pimicikamak
Cree Nation, told utility regulators on the Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) that hydropower is not a benign source of electricity.
"It's not clean and it's not cheap, and its production has involved
violations of human rights that also caused gross destruction of the
environment," he said.
However, Xcel officials noted that buying hydropower from Manitoba is good
for Minnesota customers because it allows the utility, formerly known as
Northern States Power Co., to receive electricity from diverse sources and
at competitive prices. Conducting a study and halting the contract renewal
process with Manitoba Hydro would have a chilling effect on Xcel's bidding
process, said Christopher Clark, an attorney for Xcel.
Diane Peterson, representing the Twin Cities Friends Committee, a Quaker
community, said that continued purchase of Manitoba electricity amounted to
"fencing stolen goods from the North American wilderness." She said that
Minnesotans "collaborate in an injustice" against Canadian tribes by
continuing to purchase electricity.
PUC members were wary about becoming involved in Manitoba's internal
disputes, especially since five tribes and the Canadian government signed an
agreement about the dams in 1977. There is considerable dispute about
whether that agreement has been honored, and PUC Chairman Gregory Scott said
it was not appropriate for Minnesota to be drawn into the fight.
"For me to come in now and substitute my judgment would be sheer lunacy as
far as I'm concerned." Scott said.
The commission also heard from representatives of two other Cree nations who
settled many of their problems with Manitoba Hydro during in the 1990s.
PUC members said they were concerned about the social and economic costs of
generating electricity from all sources, and voted to initiate an
investigation on that topic next year.
Tom Meersman can be contacted at meersman@startribune.com
-----------------------------------
Information distributed by:
Will Braun
Mennonite Central Committee
134 Plaza Drive
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3T 5K9
ph: 204-261-6381
fax: 204-269-9875
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