Few details on Manitoba's plans for a new energy efficiency Crown agency

The Manitoba government says a new Crown corporation aimed at promoting energy efficiency will be up and running later this year.

But there is still no word on what it will cost taxpayers, how many people it will employ and what kind of rebates it will offer consumers.

The government passed a law last spring to set up a Crown corporation called Efficiency Manitoba, which will take over energy-efficiency programs from Manitoba Hydro.

On Wednesday, the head of the Building Owners and Managers Association — which represents key stakeholders in provincial energy consumption — said he was disappointed.

"Quite frankly, we thought this was going to be a staffing announcement on the part of the province of Manitoba," said Tom Thiessen, executive director of the association. "We've known for a long time that Efficiency Manitoba was coming. We thought a CEO would be announced today. It wasn't, so this wasn't much of an announcement at all, unfortunately."

Crown Services Minister Cliff Cullen says details of the corporation, including its board of directors and funding, will be worked out in the coming months.

"We want to make sure we get this right so we're not going to rush the process but we certainly have some timelines we'd like to accomplish," said Cullen. "Stakeholders and their input will be important. The transition will be important."

The Progressive Conservative government promised to set up the corporation in the last provincial election campaign, and ousted backbencher Steven Fletcher from caucus when he criticized the plan.

But Thiessen said the old Power Smart system was working well.

"Quite frankly we didn't see a need for the creation of another Crown corporation dealing with demand-side management," he said.

"The Province of Manitoba has decided to go ahead with the creation of this corporation anyway, and so we'd like to be at the table in terms of, OK, well, what will the targets be going forward?"

Thiessen's criticism was echoed by Chris Mravinec, president of the local branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees representing Manitoba Hydro staffers, in a news release Wednesday. The release called the announcement the "nail in the coffin" of Power Smart and said the province has yet to clarify why the new corporation is needed.

'"This is another example of the government ignoring reason and pushing their agenda forward without details," said Mravinec in the release.

"Countless industry experts have made submissions and presentations to the Minister of Crown Services on why PowerSmart should remain part of Hydro, why hasn't the Minister listened?" 

Cullen says the government is following the advice of provincial regulators who said the province should have separate agencies to sell energy and promote energy efficiency.