Manitoba Hydro planning at least 22 power outages this week for repairs

Manitoba Hydro is planning at least 22 power outages in Winnipeg and other parts of the province this week.

Manitoba Hydro is planning at least 22 power outages in Winnipeg and other parts of the province this week. Crews will carry out repair work following a stretch of extreme heat that pushed electricity demand to a new summer record. The outages are scheduled to take place from Wednesday through Sunday.

“There’s never a good time to do it, but it’s important that we get it done to avoid the much longer outage in the future,” said Peter Chura, a spokesperson for Manitoba Hydro. One of the outages, in the Victoria Beach area, is expected to affect more than 6,400 customers. Manitoba Hydro said the work involves replacing a temporary repair made to a power pole that was damaged in a storm earlier this spring.

“Now we have the crews and the equipment available to make that permanent repair, which is really important, because if that temporary repair fails, it could lead to an unplanned outage — a sudden outage, and much longer time,” Chura said. The Victoria Beach repair is expected to take up to eight hours. Manitoba Hydro said customers concerned about food spoilage during the outage can help keep the contents cool by placing bags of ice in their fridge and freezer.

Electricity demand hits new summer high The planned outages come as electricity demand in the province reached a new summer record. Manitoba Hydro said the electrical load peaked at 3,751 megawatts at 5 p.m. Monday, as the temperature reached 31.4 C. That surpasses the previous summer record set on June 6, 2023, by 200 megawatts.

Despite the new summer high, demand remains well below the province’s winter peak. That record — 5,111 megawatts — was set on Jan. 20, 2025, when the temperature dropped to -32.7 C.