Whistleblower wants to appear at PUB hearing

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This article was published 09/03/2010 (5923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A New York consultant wants to appear at Friday’s Manitoba Hydro rate application hearing to defend her work.

Public Utilities Board documents show that it could cost $300,000-$800,000 to cover all the bills associated with an appearance by the New York consultant who blew the whistle on Manitoba Hydro’s supposed financial risks last year. None of the money would go directly to her but rather to cover costs such as legal bills.

It’s the latest chapter in a story that’s dogged Manitoba Hydro as it builds two dams and a new transmission line, costing billions of dollars, to export power to the United States.
The consultant applied a week ago to the province’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) for intervener status, PUB secretary and executive director Gerry Gaudreau said Monday. A hearing is set for Friday where the consultant can appear in person, via teleconference or through a written submission. It’s not known if the whistleblower will appear in person.

Gaudreau said the consultant has insisted her identity be kept confidential. If granted status, the consultant will be allowed to call evidence, give testimony and provide a final argument behind closed doors. The vast majority of PUB hearings are public.

The consultant said in documents filed to the PUB she wants to appear to defend her work that criticized Manitoba Hydro for what she argues was improperly calculating its financial risk. She said Hydro has lost more than $1 billion over the last five years and could even face bankruptcy and blackouts.

"Based on the evidence we provide, we are confident that the PUB may determine very different processes to ascertain the risks and merits of such," the consultant said in a document filed with PUB. "We would also assert that the description of validity of the reports and other materials of false information have been provided to the PUB."

The PUB sets power rates and holds hearings about Manitoba Hydro’s operations.

The whistleblower is also embroiled in a civil suit launched by Hydro to force some public airing of her findings. Hydro has hired another consultant, KPMG, to scrutinize those findings, and Hydro wants to be allowed to release the KPMG report to outside investigators, regulators and possibly the public. The whistleblower can’t be identified because of a court ban.

Meanwhile, Grand Chief Morris Swan Shannacappo of the Southern Chiefs’ Association (SCO) said Monday his organization will also apply for intervener status. He said the concerns of SCO First Nations should be considered when the PUB deals with future electricity rate applications and when Hydro builds dams and power lines. The SCO represents 36 First Nations.

Shannacappo also said wind power should be considered more seriously by Manitoba Hydro as it causes less harm to the environment than do northern dams. Several First Nations want to build wind farms to generate and sell power.

"We’re not just being whiny people," he added. "We’re business people and we have an alternative, which is wind energy."

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca