Manitoba Hydro International locked in limbo

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This article was published 14/10/2020 (2061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It appears the operation of Manitoba Hydro International is to remain in limbo indefinitely.

In a memo to staff in early September, the Hydro subsidiary’s 125 employees were told they were not to “aggressively pursue new work,” specifically that they were “not to actively pursue bids or seek out new customers” for the period of Sept. 2 to Oct. 7.

Last week staff were told that directive would “continue until further notice.”

According to staff, they were told there was no end date given as to when, if ever, it will be able to ramp up business development.

MHI is an international hydro power consultancy as well as a collection of non-core assets of Manitoba Hydro, including a Northern Manitoba broadband infrastructure as well as ownership of a number of internationally in-demand software tools and devices. In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, it generated $45.8 million in revenue and $6.7 million in profits to Manitoba Hydro’s bottom line.

At the end of September, Manitoba Hydro CEO Jay Grewal issued a statement saying the Crown corporation had not yet made a decision on the future of MHI.

In that statement Grewal said, profitability had declined since 2017 and “In addition, there is an increasing lack of alignment between MHI’s services and Manitoba Hydro’s core operations as an electrical and natural gas utility.”

Staff who spoke to the Free Press on condition their names not be used, said they were very frustrated and feel management is not being forthright, despite the contention from Grewal that “Manitoba Hydro will be as transparent as possible with both employees and customers of MHI.”

One of them said, “This news is beyond disappointing to us. Jay Grewal committed to conducting this review in a transparent manner, but yet we still have no answers. We are now being forced to go another four months pretending everything is alright, while all we can do is worry about our families.”

An organization-wide review of operations at Manitoba Hydro has been underway for much of this year that has included two separate management consultants’ reports.

A spokesman for Manitoba Hydro said on Tuesday, “As part of our review and analysis process, MHI’s business areas were moved into a non-aggressive approach for new business development to allow the review to continue without complication. That is continuing until the review is complete.”

While Grewal and Hydro officials have consistently maintained it has no intention of privatizing the power utility, MHI staff and others worry that management directives to stay on the sidelines will diminish business to the extent that Hydro’s board and management can justify shutting the subsidiary down.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca