Hydro, MHBA agree to new home energy hook-up plan

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This article was published 23/05/2025 (311 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Process changes during a home’s construction phase — leading to a quicker energy hook-up — should create more predictability around house possession dates and speed up builds in the province.

Manitoba Hydro and the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association jointly announced Friday new homes would be energized within five days of passing final gas and electrical inspections.

“These changes significantly speed up the completion of new-built homes,” Hydro CEO Allan Danroth said in a news release.

Hydro and the MHBA have worked together over the past half-year to improve connection times. It follows a peak of “significant delays” in hook-ups two years ago, said Lanny McInnes, MHBA president.

Initiative leaders combed through the process of hooking up hydro to home builds and identified procedures worth changing. Better co-ordination between groups working on a given build was key, noted Scott Powell, Manitoba Hydro’s marketing director.

There was a “test-and-learn” period earlier this year.

“(This is) going to provide greater predictability for builders to do planning, to work with customers in terms of possession dates,” McInnes said.

Also, it’ll lead to building better homes, he added. Workers will be able to heat homes “much more efficiently” than using a source powered by a fuel generator.

The MHBA and Hydro are now piloting a change where basic electric and natural gas infrastructure is installed earlier in the construction period, closer to when a home’s foundation is finished.

“(It’s) not necessarily energized, but at least connected,” McInnes said. “So when the home is ready to be energized, that time frame is as small as possible.”

Changes resulting from the ongoing pilot will be implemented in Winnipeg, Selkirk and Brandon to start.

A new online portal will be used for scheduling service installations and checking the status of service requests and inspections. Manitoba Hydro inspectors and advisors, and MHBA members, will use the tool.

“We’ve gotten a lot done in a short time,” Danroth said.

The five-day energization change aligns with the province’s energy policy.

— Free Press staff