Manitoba Hydro punts CEO 2 weeks after criticism from NDP minister
PCs say 'ideologically rigid' NDP's focus on publicly owned energy projects could come at cost to ratepayers
Manitoba Hydro has parted ways with its CEO, two weeks after the NDP cabinet minister in charge of the Crown corporation criticized her plans to purchase wind power from private sources.
Hydro board chair Ben Graham said Tuesday he informed Jay Grewal in the morning that her time as the corporation's CEO is up after five years. He used the term "parting ways" to describe her departure.
"Jay's been here a long time and she's done a lot for this organization. We just felt as a board it was the right time to make a change and bring a fresh perspective," Graham said in the lobby of Manitoba Hydro's downtown Winnipeg office tower.
Grewal, a former executive with Capstone Mining, B.C. Hydro and CIBC World Markets, took the reins of Manitoba Hydro in February 2019.
A Hydro board made up of appointees from Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservative government selected Grewal following a national search in 2018.
The NDP government, elected last October, replaced Hydro's board with its own appointees in December.
There were no signs of rancour between the new government and Grewal until Jan. 30, when she said in a speech that Hydro may need new sources of power by 2029 — and repeated the corporation's plans to buy that electricity from private wind-energy companies.
That plan was initially unveiled By Manitoba in July 2023, when Hydro executives and the former PC government announced the need to double or even triple the corporation's existing 6,600-megawatt generating capacity by the 2040s.
Adrien Sala, the NDP government's minister responsible for Hydro, nonetheless criticized Grewal's statements in the days that followed and rejected the notion Hydro would purchase power from private sources.
"As it relates to the development of new energy resources, we want those to be publicly generated," Sala told The Canadian Press on Feb. 2.
On Tuesday, Sala and Graham rejected the idea that difference of opinion played any role in the Hydro board's decision on Grewal.
"This assessment started to take place the day that we were appointed as the board," Graham said. "It was an assessment that took over three and a half months and that was the result of the analysis."
Graham declined to disclose Grewal's severance payment, calling that "a personal discussion." The Crown corporation will be required to state her total compensation for 2024 as part of a routine disclosure that must be made by July 1, 2025.
Sala said Grewal's departure was a board decision but repeated his assertion Hydro must not purchase power from private entities.
"We want to ensure that as we meet our energy needs, going forward, that we're doing that in a way that has those energy sources being publicly generated," the minister said.
Graham said Hal Turner, a Hydro vice-president, has been appointed Hydro's acting CEO until the corporation's board chooses a permanent leader for the Crown corporation.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs issued a statement praising Grewal's dismissal, stating it had "no meaningful engagements or discussions" with Hydro under her leadership.
'Need to grow our energy supplies'
Hydro also announced plans last year to continue using natural gas to generate some electricity in Manitoba until Hydro finds enough carbon-free sources of power to completely wean itself off fossil fuels.
Premier Wab Kinew, meanwhile, handed Sala a mandate to make Hydro carbon-free by 2035.
Sala refused to say whether Hydro's intention to continue relying on natural gas served as a point of contention between him and Grewal.
Hydro will determine what forms of new power it will commission, Sala said, adding he would not rule out revisiting mothballed plans to build another generating station on the Nelson River, at Conawapa, to augment future wind farms.
Sala also could not say when Manitoba Hydro will begin construction on additional transmission lines that need to be in place in order to transmit power from future generating stations.
In addition to Grewal's concerns about requiring more generating capacity in five years, a Manitoba Hydro briefing note prepared for the former PC government last fall warned the province does not have enough generating capacity right now to meet the needs of new industrial users.
Sala, who criticized the former PC government last fall for failing to invest in hydro infrastructure, insisted Tuesday Manitoba has sufficient energy capacity.
"We do know, though, that we need to grow our energy supplies. That's something we're very aware of and that's something we expect that Hydro will focus on in the years to come," he said.
NDP approach could hike hydro rates: PCs
Spruce Woods MLA Grant Jackson, the PC energy critic, said the NDP could wind up increasing costs for Hydro and its ratepayers by insisting all future power sources are publicly owned.
Hydro is already struggling to service $25 billion worth of debt, much of it incurred during the construction of the Keeyask generating station on the Nelson River and the Bipole 3 transmission line, he noted.
"At what cost will this ideologically rigid NDP government implement publicly funded energy projects?" asked Jackson, who accused the NDP government of getting rid of Grewal because the former CEO was candid about Hydro's needs.
Sala rejected the concern Hydro may end up with higher costs if it doesn't consider both private and public options for future power generation.
"We have confidence in our board. We have confidence that we're going to find the right CEO to lead those processes to ensure that we can grow our clean energy economy in the future here in Manitoba," Sala said.
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