Local faith groups gather aid for Ukraine

If it works in Ontario, why not in Manitoba?

Grid-scale battery storage has fundamentally changed the global energy landscape — and Manitoba needs to get on board.

Battery systems store large amounts of excess electricity for when it’s most needed. While they can be charged from any generation source, they are especially beneficial for integrating wind and solar power, which vary with weather and time of day. Batteries allow electrical grids to meet the need for firm, dispatchable and affordable capacity using renewable energy, rather than relying on coal, nuclear and fossil gas. They also provide numerous other benefits, including reducing overloading of transmission infrastructure and helping to regulate the grid’s frequency and voltage.

Average costs for grid-scale batteries plummeted by more than half between 2023 and 2025 and installations have skyrocketed in China, the U.S., Australia and Europe. Texas now has 16,500 megawatts (MW) of battery storage, while California has 15,200 MW. Closer to home, Ontario recently awarded 640 MW of contracts to three battery storage projects in a competitive auction, with batteries beating out fossil gas-fired power plants on cost every time. One of these projects will be built near Dryden, only four hours east of Winnipeg.

Each battery system will provide eight hours of capacity but will cost considerably less than Ontario’s previous battery procurements, which provide only four hours of capacity. With this latest auction, Ontario has now secured 3,600 MW of battery storage capacity, including the operational Oneida (250 MW), Hagersville (300 MW) and Napanee (250 MW) projects. Almost all have significant Indigenous participation, with the latest procurements boasting 50 per cent First Nations ownership.

Letters, July 14

I commend James Wilt on his column on Manitoba Hydro’s options for increased electrical generation. For years Manitoba Hydro has put too many eggs in one basket by relying almost entirely on water power for electricity.

Manitoba workplaces becoming increasingly violent

A middle school student file documenting more than 40 violent outbursts in a single year.

A gun kept under the pillow of a home-care patient who has dementia.

A drug-fuelled rage during which a man suffering from a contagious disease spat on and wrapped his hands around the throat of a first responder.

These are among the hazards that front-line employees in health care, education and other public sector positions are navigating when they clock in for a shift.

First-aid volunteers treat folk fest attendees suffering from heat

Shade was at a premium at Birds Hill Provincial Park over the weekend as Winnipeg Folk Festival goers tried to keep cool during an extreme heat wave.

Heat warnings were issued across southern Manitoba and temperatures peaked at 35 C Sunday afternoon.

First-aid volunteers were seen administering cold compresses to several overheated attendees. STARS air ambulance responded to a medical call at the park on Saturday night, but did not transport the patient to hospital. By Sunday at noon, EMS had been called to the festival nine times.

“This is not an unusual number of calls for us or other events of our size,” festival executive director Valerie Shantz said.

Would-be mayors respond to extreme heat

With Winnipeg in the midst of an intense heat wave, the city has yet to introduce maximum heat legislation for rental housing.

In 2023, the Free Press and the Narwhal reported on calls by tenants and environmental advocates to enact a law that would require indoor temperatures in rental units not exceed 26 C. It would be similar to how Winnipeg landlords, under the city’s neighbourhood livability bylaw, must maintain a minimum daytime temperature of 21 C during cold weather.

On Sunday, the Free Press emailed all nine registered mayoral candidates asking for their policy plans to tackle the dangers of extreme heat, and specifically, whether they would support a change to the city’s bylaw to create heat protections for renters.

Eight candidates responded, and of them, six — Noah Redden, Don Woodstock, Mazher Alam, Christopher Clacio, Michael Vogiatzakis and Umar Hayat — said they would support (or support exploring) a bylaw amendment to establish a maximum indoor temperature threshold.

Gold mine accused of sparking wildfire that caused evacuations

Several property owners are suing a Lynn Lake-area gold mine over a massive wildfire that burned more than 210,000 acres last spring, causing evacuations as the flames closed in on the community.

Provincial conservation officials alleged in court documents filed last year the wildfire started May 7, 2025, after a controlled burn pile reignited at Alamos Gold Inc., located about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake. The blaze spread to within five kilometres of the small northern community.

A Manitoba government spokesman said Monday the fire remains under investigation.

The wildfire led to the late May 2025 evacuations of Lynn Lake, home to nearly 600 residents and located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and Marcel Colomb First Nation.