Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) announced the start-up of a federal environmental assessment for Manitoba Hydro's Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project (MMTB), so that members of the public and indigenous groups can register. The project assessment will start on August 2017 and will take place under the framework of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012.
The MMTB includes a new 500 kV international power line (IPL) which would extend from Winnipeg area to the (U.S. border in southeastern Manitoba, Canada) along with upgrades of three existing power stations in southern Manitoba. It is expected to double Manitoba's ability to import electricity from the United States (US) and add 700 MW of import capacity on top of the existing 1,400 MW. In the meantime, it would increase the amount of electricity the province can sell into the US by 885 MW, up to a total capacity of 3,185 MW.
The NEB is Canada's federal regulator, in charge of pipelines and power grids. Manitoba Hydro Electric Energy and Natural Gas is a Canadian electric power and natural gas utility operating mostly in Manitoba, with about 18,000 km of power transmission lines, 68,000 km of power distribution lines, 10,070 km of natural gas lines and a total capacity of 5,690 MW as of 2016. It serves about 567,000 customers throughout the State.