This article was published in November 2019 and may be outdated.
I want to thank all of you – our customers – for the patience, support and understanding you showed Manitoba Hydro, and particularly our front-line crews, as we dealt with the effects of the devastating early winter storm that hit us over the Thanksgiving weekend.
We know the outages resulting from the storm seriously impacted many of you that weekend. In the days that followed, Manitoba Hydro responded to almost 270,000 calls for service.
Many customers waited more than a week to get their electrical service back. Many First Nations communities in remote locations had to be evacuated during the crisis.
The storm was unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The damage to our power grid was immense — hundreds of kilometres of power lines were damaged, over 3,000 wood poles were destroyed, and many metal transmission towers crumpled over.
In many cases, this wasn’t so much a job of repairing our power system as much as completely rebuilding it from the ground up. In touring some the hardest hit areas and talking to many of you, I couldn’t help but marvel at the grace and patience you showed. I’m amazed — and very grateful — for the support you showed our crews, and those from our neighbours in Saskatchewan, Minnesota and Ontario, from offering them a coffee and a meal, to the notes and drawings from young school children sent to our mobile camps.
Your support has shown me why they call it “Friendly Manitoba.” I thank you for that. All of us at Manitoba Hydro thank you.
I’m also proud of how all our Manitoba Hydro staff rallied to support our front-line crews. Each of our employees who responded knew exactly what they needed to do. It was truly inspiring for me to be involved, and to work side-by-side such dedicated people.
Even though the immediate restoration is complete, our staff will continue working in the coming weeks and months to repair the long-term damage caused by the storm.
Our commitment to you won’t stop. We will work for you each and every day.
Thank you again for your support.
Jay Grewal, President and CEO,
Manitoba Hydro