Manitoba Hydro board chairman abruptly resigns

The chairman of the Manitoba Hydro board of directors — who oversaw the province’s electricity and gas Crown corporation — has abruptly resigned his position, the Free Press has learned.

Ben Graham, who was appointed to lead the Manitoba Hydro Electric Board in 2023 shortly after the NDP was returned to power, submitted his resignation late last week, the provincial government has confirmed.

Graham was considered a star recruit for the NDP and Premier Wab Kinew. A former president and CEO of Manitoba Public Insurance, Graham had sparred publicly with former Tory Premier Brian Pallister and was known as a no-nonsense, straight shooter who would head up efforts to stabilize Hydro after years of political manipulation by the Progressive Conservatives.

Having resigned from the Hydro board, Graham returns to his post as president and CEO of Manitoba Blue Cross. He could not be reached for comment but provided a copy of the letter of resignation he submitted to Kinew and Finance Minister Adrien Sala, the minister responsible for Hydro.

In the letter, Graham said his resignation was “bittersweet” given that he felt Hydro and the board he led had accomplished a lot in the last two years. However, he said, the demands of his day job with Blue Cross were intensifying.

“Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day and this must be where my attention lays,” Graham wrote.

In an emailed statement, Sala thanked Graham for two years of dedicated service. “Hydro under his direction has refocused on restoring energy reliability and affordability for Manitobans. His guidance in moving forward the Integrated Resource Plan will help put Manitoba Hydro on solid footing for years to come. We are committed as a government to keep strengthening Manitoba Hydro for all Manitobans.”

Byron Williams, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Centre who represents the Consumers Coalition at Hydro hearings before the Public Utilities Board, said Graham’s departure was surprising.

“Ben Graham has delivered outstanding service to Manitobans, whether as CEO of MPI or as chair of the Manitoba Hydro Board,” Williams said on Sunday. “Our clients do not always agree with his positions. But they appreciate both the charismatic breadth of his vision and his forthright commitment to principled decision making.”

Sources within Hydro said there had been some friction between Hydro and Kinew in recent months, particularly as it related to demands by York Factory First Nation to release water held in reservoirs by Hydro to help it maintain a critical ferry link. The sources asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Sources indicated Jamie Wilson, the vice-chairman of the Hydro board, was being touted as a successor. If Wilson takes the helm of the board, he would become the first Indigenous Hydro chairman in the province’s history.

Graham’s departure adds an additional degree of uncertainty to an already uncertain Hydro future.

The Crown energy company is going through a period of dynamic change, complicated by the uncertainty brought by climate change.

Chronic low-water conditions are threatening Hydro’s ability to generate enough electricity to meet a growing domestic supply and to continue exporting electricity to the United States and neighbouring provinces.

In recent years, Hydro has started to import electricity from the U.S. to meet grid demands during periods when water levels could not drive the entity’s northern generating stations.

Hydro is also facing enormous capital costs to overhaul its transmission infrastructure. Last summer, Hydro revealed it would be undertaking a $7-billion retrofit of Bipoles I and II, the transmission lines that carry more than 70 per cent of its total electricity capacity.

The project carries with it a huge impact for electricity customers; Hydro has estimated it would need to raise electricity rates by 3.5 per cent in each of the next three years.

Intervenors at the Public Utilities Board, which reviews Hydro rate increases, have argued the Crown energy company has overstated the need for the repairs and could mitigate the rate hikes by cutting its administrative overhead.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca