Manitoba Hydro is planning a 230-kV metal-structured power line to boost capacity in Portage la Prairie from the Dorsey Converter Station (near Rosser). The proposed completion date is 2025.
We live on a 430-acre farm near Poplar Point and are very concerned about the ‘preferred route’ Manitoba Hydro has chosen. It will go over our land and in the process they will remove our existing 20-year-old shelterbelt. This approximate two-mile stretch of trees is actively sequestering carbon, preventing erosion of the soil from wind and water, holding water in the soil, and providing habitat and a corridor for wildlife. Currently we already have a 115-kV line running by our land and 1.5 miles north of us a further two lines of 115 and 230 kV respectively.
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For the land beneath each metal structure, there is a one-time compensation offered. But we still have to pay taxes on that land that cannot be used by us. The property along the power line will be taken as an ‘easement’ (a wide strip approximately 42-60 metres) which will be permanently put on our land title. This will allow access for Manitoba Hydro any time it requires and will limit our future development and plans, such as putting up a building, irrigation, tile drainage.
Manitoba Hydro seems to transect and intersect agricultural land in an ad hoc manner. I believe the engineer’s top priority should be minimizing the impact on farming by planning and co-ordinating new lines with existing lines. ‘Bribing’ us with a large one-time payment should not be tolerated as future farmers have to deal with this in perpetuity.
Although Manitoba Hydro promotes the Crown corporation as producing “green energy,” I think Manitoba farmers are paying too high a price for other communities blindly receiving it.
Levina Cunningham
Poplar Point
