Hydro power being challenged in BC, Manitoba and Quebec. Also around the world. It sometimes rains or the snow pack is adequate for a year, but the trend is towards drier. Calls for more wind-power in these provinces. BC Hydro and Manitoba Hydro will record large losses which will have to be passed onto consumers. All provinces have been reluctant to get into wind.
BC Hydro imported 20% of the province's electrical demand in 2023. $465 million so far. And where does this electricity come from? coal/natural gas fired facilities. Not clean energy, let alone green.
In Manitoba, besides importing $650 million of electricity in 2023, an interesting scenario:
North Dakota has no hydro, but has a lot of windpower. How is this possible? (Winnipeg Free Press Dec 13, 2023).
If we need further confirmation that Manitoba Hydro has failed to recognize the value of wind energy, just look at North Dakota. That state has virtually no hydro power, yet in 2023 it has 4,300 megawatts (MW) of wind power.
How did North Dakota manage that success? Because a significant portion of its wind power is backstopped by Manitoba. Hydro “sells” them its ability to provide backup using our reservoirs when the wind doesn’t blow. In other words, we gave them some of our storage capacity to help them build more than 16 times our wind power.