Manitoba slams door on Hydro subsidiary privatization

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This article was published 13/03/2024 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP government has ordered Manitoba Hydro to retain ownership of its subsidiaries and their patents, copyrights and trademarks, closing the door to privatization of its intellectual property assets.

Finance Minister Adrien Sala issued a directive to the Crown corporation on March 6. It will ensure the utility remains public after uncertainty over the future of Manitoba Hydro International and other subsidiaries under the former Progressive Conservative government, he said.

Manitoba Hydro sold its 40 per cent stake in Teshmont Consultants, a former Winnipeg-based power engineering firm, to Stantec in 2020 and the wind down of the Teshmont Consultants Ltd. Partnership was completed in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

In 2021, Hydro announced it would wind down Manitoba Hydro International’s global consulting wing and bring the subsidiary in-house.

The reorganization of MHI was still in progress and the consulting business had yet to be wrapped up, as of the corporation’s most recent annual report.

MHI also sold its interests in Real Time Digital Solutions Technologies in October 2022 and received a one-time payment of $69 million. It had been receiving royalty revenue from the company under a licensing agreement.

“Manitobans have a new government that will keep Hydro public, keep rates low. We’re going to keep creating good jobs for Manitobans while building a low-carbon energy future,” Sala said.

The directive instructs Hydro to retain its ownership interests in any other entities, whether directly or through a subsidiary. It also applies to intellectual property assets, which can include trademarks, patents, copyrights and industrial designs.

The corporation has also been directed to take an inventory of its intellectual property assets and those held by its subsidiaries. Hydro must also “explore opportunities to leverage value” while retaining ownership of assets that have been proposed for sale or to otherwise be offloaded.

While ordering the utility to retain ownership, the directive doesn’t restrict Manitoba Hydro or its subsidiaries from granting rights for others to use their intellectual property through licences or other arrangements.

Manitoba Hydro’s other subsidiaries include Centra Gas Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro Utility Services, Minell Pipelines, and a numbered company formed to develop the Manitoba-Minnesota transmission line.

The corporation is also represented through a general partner, which is a wholly owned subsidiary, in the Wuskwatim Power Ltd. Partnership and the Keeyask Hydropower Ltd. Partnership.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca