Rate Freeze? Not For Long-Manitoba Hydro Wants More, 11% More

Get out your calculator. You're going to need it.

Winnipeg property taxes just went up nearly 6%. Garbage collection rates are tripling. The city added a flat rate to your water and sewer bill. Bus fares are up. And now, the city wants to tack a charge onto your phone bill for 911. All of that — just from Mayor Gillingham.

But wait, there's more.

The NDP government has been quietly increasing your costs too. This year, more Manitobans will pay more in income tax. Why? Because if you get a raise — even a few cents thanks to the minimum wage increase — you move into a higher tax bracket. You keep less of your money.

And now Hydro wants a turn.

Last week, Manitoba Hydro filed an application to raise electricity rates by nearly 11% over three years — three consecutive 3.5% hikes starting in 2026. They’re calling it necessary to fix aging infrastructure, increase generating capacity, and pay down a staggering $25 billion debt. Their words, not mine.

To be fair, some of their infrastructure is past its expected lifespan. Some of it dates back 50 years. They say they'll need to spend $31 billion over the next two decades to modernize and expand the grid. That’s the rationale. But this isn’t just a story of outdated infrastructure. It’s about unchecked spending, lack of accountability, and government decisions that ignore basic economics.

Hydro was already warning about infrastructure costs and capacity issues in 2023. The NDP knew this. Yet they campaigned on a rate freeze — and sold it to you as relief. Turns out, it was just a delay. Now the bill comes due, and it’s bigger than ever.

This isn’t just about power bills. It’s about a broader pattern of rising costs, bloated bureaucracy, and political decisions with short-term optics and long-term consequences.

Hydro, like most Crown corporations, operates without real accountability. It’s shielded from the same scrutiny a private company would face. And with nearly $25 billion in debt, it’s time to stop pretending this is sustainable. That debt grew by nearly a billion dollars just since the last rate application — mostly due to low water levels and mismanagement. Who covers the shortfall? You.

Let me be clear: the people running Hydro are not trimming fat. They're not operating like a business. They’re not taking cost reduction seriously. As someone who completed Six Sigma training, I can tell you with confidence — any decent executive team could find 10 to 20% in savings without touching essential services. You don't need to raise rates; you need to run leaner.

Instead, they're planning to build more fuel-combustion turbines — at a time when the NDP government is supposedly banning the use of fuel to create electricity by 2035. So Hydro is being told to spend billions on technology they won’t be allowed to use in a decade. That’s not a plan. That’s chaos with a price tag.

And the Public Utilities Board? It's supposed to be an independent regulator. But with political promises like rate freezes being dropped before elections, it’s hard to believe this process is free from influence.

The NDP says this is about balancing affordability with long-term planning. But they’ve failed on both fronts. Incomes aren’t rising fast enough to cover these increases. Inflation, fuel costs, and new tariffs from China and the U.S. are already hammering local businesses and working families. Our exporters are under pressure. Our farmers are stretched. And now, energy costs are set to rise — again.

Meanwhile, there’s no serious talk of reducing the size of government or reining in spending. In fact, the only thing growing in Manitoba these days is bureaucracy. Public-sector salaries remain untouched. Crown executives don’t lose sleep over balancing a budget. But you do.

And let’s stop pretending Manitoba Hydro is some sacred cow. It’s a public utility that should be operating in your interest — not for political optics or empire-building projects. Want to help Manitobans? Cut the PST. Better yet, remove it from Canadian-made products. That would support our economy, create jobs, and give people real relief.

Manitoba is becoming more unaffordable by the day. And the bigger the government gets, the more it costs you.

We need real leadership — not performative freezes and rate hikes hiding just around the corner. This province has the potential to lead. But to do that, we have to stop managing decline and start managing smarter.

It’s time for a hard reset on how we run Crown corporations, structure taxes, and treat Manitoba’s taxpayers — not as an afterthought, but as the very foundation of our economy.

Because the more they take, the less you have left to build your future.