The St. Vital Transmission Complex includes construction of 2 230-kiloVolt transmission lines that will both start at the St. Vital Station (located in southeast Winnipeg):
The St. Vital to Letellier Transmission line will run south to the Letellier Station, located outside of Letellier, Manitoba. This new line is required in south-central Manitoba to address load growth and voltage concerns in the area.
The St. Vital to La Verendrye Transmission Line will run to the La Verendrye Station, located southwest of Winnipeg near the community of Oak Bluff. This new line will be located on a right-of-way, which exists south of Winnipeg known as the Southern Loop. The new line will:
enable the Winnipeg network to withstand various severe outages;
improve performance during normal operation;
promote the reliability of the power system in southern Manitoba.
The St. Vital Transmission Complex received a Class 2 development Licence under The Environment Act (Manitoba) on January 30, 2017.
Status
Manitoba Hydro is reaching out to affected landowners, Indigenous communities and organizations, interested parties, rural municipalities and local communities with information about the Project and next steps. Liaisons have been assigned to landowners to help address any specific concerns and to help landowners navigate the next steps of the process including easement agreements and site specific mitigation, through construction to project operation. If you are an affected landowner and have not received a letter regarding your project liaison, please contact us at 1-877-343-1631.
Based on feedback received and discussions held with the Sage Creek Residents Association, a modification to the project was made to the project design within the community.
Schedule
Project announcement: August 2013;
Public and Indigenous engagement round 1: August/September 2013 (completed);
Preferred route determined: October 2013 (completed);
Public and Indigenous engagement round 2: November 2013 (completed);
Regulatory submission: May 2014 (completed);
Licence received: January 2017 (completed);
Construction start date – St. Vital to Letellier transmission line: summer 2019 (estimated);
Construction start date – St. Vital to La Verendrye transmission line: to be determined.
This schedule is subject to change.
All comment sheets, newsletters and storyboards presented at open houses and to interested parties are available in the document library.
Contact MB Hydro
For more information about the St. Vital Transmission Complex:
Phone toll-free at 1-877-343-1631 or 204-360-7888 in Winnipeg.
Mail
Manitoba Hydro
Licensing & Environmental Assessment
360 Portage Ave. (5)
Winnipeg MB R3C 0G8.
http://www.hydro.mb.ca/projects/expansion/stvital/index.shtml
Update - July 28, 2014
We have heard a lot of feedback from our fellow residents regarding this proposed project. The SCRA is acting on this and has taken a position opposing the proposed overland hydro expansion, recommending instead that the lines be buried. The SCRA has taken a number of steps to communicate our position and concerns.
A number of residents have reached out to the SCRA asking how they could get involved. A small group got together to discuss research and what a reasonable course of action would be going forward. It has been brought to our attention that the option most recently presented to the SCRA, maximum two lines between Warde and Edward Turner, was not the whole story. It turns out that while there would initially be two lines, Hydro reserves the right to add a third line at a later date. Our position continues to be to advocate for a solution that would minimize the impact on the community.
Manitoba Hydro has applied to Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship's (CWS) Environmental Approvals Branch for the approval to proceed. Here is an excerpt from CWS on the process if there is opposition to the project:
Anyone likely to be affected by the above operation and who wishes to make a representation either for or against the proposal should contact the Department, in writing or by E-mail elise.dagdick@gov.mb.ca , not later than August 5, 2014. Further information is available from the Public Registries located at: Legislative Library, 200 Vaughan St., Winnipeg; Millennium Public Library, 4th Floor, 251 Donald St., Winnipeg; Online Registry, http.//www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/eal/registries/index.html or by contacting Elise Dagdick, Environment Officer at 204-619-0709.
The SCRA, and other concerned members of the community, believe that there are additional options that should be considered before moving forward. While our preference will always be to have the lines buried, there are still other options that have not been discussed with the community. In Oregon, the community was presented with a similar situation - an existing 115kV line with the plan to add two additional 230 kV lines. The community was not pleased with the additional towers and worked with the utility company and arrived at a solution which had all the lines running on one set of towers.
This is just an example of one solution that hasn't been discussed with the community. Please message CWS by August 5, 2014 to indicate your opposition to the proposed project. There are additional options that have yet to be explored and we would ask that Hydro not rush into this, but that they work with the community to arrive at a mutually satisfactory arrangement.
In addition to emailing CWS, here is the contact information for a number of other stakeholders:
Premier Greg Selinger -
Email - premier@leg.gov.mb.ca
Phone: 204-945-3714
Minister Stan Struthers - Minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro
Email - minmg@leg.gov.mb.ca
Phone: 204-945-3788
Minister Erin Selby - MLA for Sage Creek
Email - minhlt@leg.gov.mb.ca
Phone: 204-945-3731
Minister Gord Mackintosh - Minister responsible for Conservation and Water Stewardship
Email - minconws@leg.gov.mb.ca
Phone: 204-945-3730
Update - April 30, 2014
Minister Erin Selby met with the SCRA to advise the group of a development regarding the Hydro lines. She advised us that she had been working with Minister Stan Struthers and Manitoba on a compromise for our consideration. The compromise was that instead of 4 lines running through Sage Creek, there would be two, and never any more than that.
She showed us a proposal which would have 3 lines running into Sage Creek from the Hydro Station on Lagimodiere and would be reduced to 2 lines at Edward Turner Drive. It would continue as 2 lines until Warde Avenue, where it would split into 3 lines.
The SCRA is happy that the dialogue is trending in a positive direction and looks forward to a continued dialogue between all stakeholders. The SCRA will keep the community apprised of the next steps.
I was only able to take a picture of the handout. I apologize for the quality of the image.
Steps Taken as of February 10, 2014
SCRA met with Minister Stan Struthers, the VP of Manitoba Hydro and one of their experts in Electromagnetic Fields. Both sides presented their position and while no decisions were made, both sides agreed to continue the dialogue. The SCRA will continue to represent the interests of the community and looks forward to engaging all levels of government throughout the upcoming months to arrive at a mutually beneficial solution.
The SCRA provided hundreds of articles supporting our position. These articles included health studies, cost studies, the position of other jurisdictions, and studies from the World Heath Organization.
Over 350 people have signed the petition. Those in favor of the actions identified in the petition are asked to sign it and share it with family and friends.
Motion passed by the City of Winnipeg Executive Policy Committee (EPC) to have Manitoba Hydro submit a written estimate, outlining the cost break-down of burying the lines. This occurred February 5, 2014.
Petition indication the community's oposition to the ovrland lines. The petition can be viewed here: http://chn.ge/1fwhQoK
Next Steps
Hydro has committed to providing the SCRA with cost information as well as some research they had brought to the meeting.
There will subsequent meetings arranged once the SCRA has had an opportunity to discuss the most recent meeting with Manitoba Hydro.
Steps Taken as of December 19, 2013
Meetings were held with
Shelly Glover, MP
Erin Selby, MLA
Dan Vandal, City Councillor
Qualico
Manitoba Hydro
Communications were sent to:
All parties listed above.
Gord Mackintosh - Conservation Minister
Ron R. Schuler - Manitoba Hydro Critic
Next Steps:
Meeting to be arranged between SCRA and Stan Struthers (Minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro).
Petition created indicating our opposition to the overland lines. We will be proposing that they be buried.
Dan Vandal has agreed to table a motion at the next ward meeting in early January asking that Manitoba Hydro provide a written proposal for the costs of burying the lines.
The SCRA will continue to keep you apprised of our activities related to this and we are always happy to hear from you. https://scra.squarespace.com/board-of-directors/
The email below is the email for the Hydro project team at Manitoba Hydro.