Hydro, governments could face class action suit over lengthy power outage

A northern First Nation that suffered extensive infrastructure damage owing to an extended power outage in the winter has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Manitoba Hydro and the federal and provincial governments.

The Cross Lake Band of Indians — also known as Pimicikamak Cree Nation — and Chief David Monias filed the statement of claim in the Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday.

The lawsuit, which is seeking certification as a class action, is over the lengthy power outage in Pimicikamak that began late on Dec. 28, 2025, amid frigid temperatures.

The power outage left more than 4,000 of the community’s roughly 8,000 residents without electricity and forced them from their homes. Power was not restored until the afternoon of Jan. 2 this year.

“It is both governments and Manitoba Hydro who put the citizens of the Cross Lake Band of Indians in the precarious position to be left without power in the dead of winter,” Monias said in a statement. “They knew, or ought to have known, that it was just a matter of time before a system failure would endanger the lives of citizens in our community.”

The single Manitoba Hydro line that supplies electricity to the remote community, about 250 kilometres from Thompson, goes across rough terrain directly from the Jenpeg generation station. The line runs over muskeg and rivers and is difficult for the Crown corporation to service.

The claim alleges that Hydro and the provincial and federal governments were aware the community’s power supply was vulnerable, but failed to act on years of warnings and requests for electrical redundancy, and failed to prepare the community adequately for a prolonged power outage in the winter and the emergency it could cause.

The outage caused extensive damage to homes, the community’s water and sewage systems and plants, infrastructure and community facilities, the court papers say.

Some homes were left uninhabitable.

The lawsuit says about 650 band members remain evacuated.

An electrical conductor inside of a marker ball failed on the line at a crossing over Nelson River, about 10 kilometres from the reserve, the lawsuit says. The claim alleges Hydro’s negligence was the cause of the failure.

The claim accuses Hydro of making errors that delayed restoration efforts, including sending crews to the wrong location and re-energizing too much at a time.

The claim says community leaders have, since 2018, repeatedly raised concerns with the province and Hydro about the power line’s vulnerability, requested backup power generators and a secondary backup power line to be built along Highways 373 and 374 to the community, which would be easier to service, to no avail.

The lawsuit also takes aim at a news release from Manitoba Hydro in January about shotgun pellet damage to marker balls and the power line.

The claim says Hydro knew at the time of the release that the marker ball where the conductor failed had not been damaged by shotgun pellets.

The lawsuit accuses Hydro of misleading the public and the press, implying Cross Lake community members caused the line’s failure when the corporation knew it was the result of an installation error.

The court filing claims Hydro has refused to provide its full report and investigation materials on the power outage to the community, citing litigation risk.

The suit seeks monetary restitution for damages, and the immediate installation of a secondary power line or sufficient system for electrical backup in emergencies.

Hydro and the governments have yet to reply to the claim in court.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca