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Hydro can't bet farm on deal: MLA

Tory says producers reject Bipole III compensation

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 09/21/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Manitoba Hydro says it's got a sweet deal for landowners willing to give up property for the controversial Bipole III transmission line -- but some farmers aren't interested at any price.

"We just don't want it, simple as that," said Bert de Rocquigny, a fourth-generation farmer from St. Claude. The proposed line is expected to cut through 11 quarter-sections of crop and pasture land he farms in partnership with his two brothers.

Hydro is offering landowners up to 35 per cent above market price for a 66-metre-wide right of way -- plus $5,000 to $23,000 for every tower that's installed on their property.

A Conservative MLA who represents 83 affected landowners, including de Rocquiny, said Monday he's been getting an earful on the subject from farmers.

"They're all of the same opinion. They don't want the line. It's not about compensation. They don't want the line," said Blaine Pedersen (Carman), who has been in contact with more than 60 farmers.

Manitoba Hydro officials, with the help of a consulting firm, have been meeting with landowners to explain the compensation package. Hydro wants to begin construction of the 1,372-kilometre line -- which will carry power from northern dams to the south -- in late 2012. About one-third of the line will cut through private land.

The project is controversial because Hydro, at the province's insistence, plans to build the line down the west side of Lake Manitoba, instead of a shorter eastern route through the boreal forest. The Conservatives oppose the more expensive western route, which also cuts through a big chunk of farm country.

The proposed transmission line carves a line through three municipalities -- Grey, Dufferin and South Norfolk -- in Pedersen's constituency. He said landowners don't want the nuisance of farming around the towers. They also have questions about magnetic fields and stray voltage that the consultants hired by Hydro have failed to address at meetings, he said.

Instead, farmers have been warned they are likely to receive less in compensation if Hydro is forced to expropriate their land.

Glenn Schneider, a spokesman for the Crown corporation, said Hydro doesn't believe expropriation will be necessary, given the "attractive" compensation package farmers are being offered and the fact that Hydro can slightly alter the line's route if needed. "We don't expect it to use it, period," he said.

Hydro is offering landowners 75 per cent of the land's market price plus an additional 25 to 65 per cent to compensate for "land disturbance" and other considerations, Schneider said. Landowners will also receive $5,000 to $23,000 per transmission tower placed on their land, depending on the property's value.

Ian Wishart, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said Hydro's initial offer to farmers was only about half that paid to Saskatchewan farmers by their province's power corporation. "They have pulled up their socks a bit," he said of Hydro's current offer.

Right now, farmers are too busy harvesting to deal with the matter. "The biggest comment I've heard from people is, 'Leave us alone until we're done the (harvest) season and then we'll talk.' " The issue is expected to heat up later this fall and into the winter, he said.

Wishart said while nobody wants to farm around a hydro transmission line, it's likely that cash-strapped farmers will be tempted to accept Hydro's offer.

Meanwhile, the Tories are organizing a public meeting in St. Claude Oct. 1 to hear farmers' concerns. Leader Hugh McFadyen will attend the event.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 21, 2010 A4

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