XCel and the Manitoba Hydro Power Generation

In the mid-60s, the provincially owned Manitoba Hydro conceived the Churchill-Nelson River Hydro Project. This project created a number of immense reservoirs through damning. Water flows are controlled to generate electricity. During the winter flow is greatly increased to reflect increased demand, while in the summer it is restricted. The power generated serves southern Canada and the United States, specifically the upper Midwest in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The five Cree communities living on or near the affected rivers were not consulted, nor was their consent acquired, before the flooding and destruction of their lands. (PCN Submission to the PUC 1999)
On October 13th, 2000, Kenny Wiswaggon of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation spoke to Minnesota and Wisconsin sociologists in River Falls, Wisconsin. He elaborated upon the devastation they now face, stating, “We live in a despoiled environment. In summers there are conditions of drought and in the winters we have unseasonable slush and hanging ice. Our fish are poisoned by methyl mercury contamination, our water is polluted by the constant soil erosion, and the animals we depended upon for food have moved away. It is no secret in Manitoba that an unemployment level of 85 percent has replaced our formerly thriving subsistence economy.”
In the wake of the project’s construction and implementation, Manitoba Hydro came to acknowledge the degradation to both the lands and livelihoods of five Cree communities. This resulted in the 1977 Northern Flood Agreement, meant to provide environmental remediation and economic development to the affected communities. This agreement, though signed by the governments of Canada and Manitoba, as well as by Manitoba Hydro, was never implemented. (www.unplugmanitobahydro.org 2000)

XCel’s Role

Forty percent of the electricity produced by the Nelson Rivers generating stations is sold to XCel. Jim Alders, manager of regulatory administration at XCel states in a October 12th, 2000 Op-Ed from the Pioneer Press, “Critics, who maintain Manitoba Hydro destroys the environment and tramples native rights, want XCel Energy to stop acquiring electricity from the Canadian utility. XCel Energy is obligated to consider the effects any action would have on our ability to provide low-cost, reliable electric service to our customers.” This is a case of economics taking precedence over ecology. However, in this case, the negativity is compounded by the fact that the Cree tribes affected rely on ecological health to sustain not only their well being, but their culture as well.

Alders also emphasizes that under the Northern Flood Agreement, “Manitoba Hydro has worked with each of the First Nations and reached settlements with four of the five.” However, the nature of the settlements was not disclosed in the article. Furthermore, regardless of specific decisions made by each independent Cree nation, XCel is not excused from contributing to the annihilation seen in Manitoba.
Diane Peterson, founder of Minnesota Witness for Environmental Justice, affirms the previous assertion. “Although Canada chooses to neglect its own law and the dictates of morality and justice, that does not give XCel the ethical right to retail that electricity here, or anywhere. XCel wants everyone to believe that distributing Manitoba Hydro’s low-cost electricity in no way implicates XCel as a collaborator in environmental and human rights abuse. XCel is dealing in ill-gotten electricity. Because the victims are Cree Indians whose land and livelihood suffer constant ravaging by the hydro dams, the collaboration is a clear case of environmental racism.” (Pioneer Press 2000)

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