During the election campaign and year leading to the election, Manitoba Hydro has been surrounded in controversy. The Public Utilities Board has asked the courts to secure information about Manitoba Hydro energy exports agreements; permanent licences for the Churchill River Diversion have been the subject of secret meetings over two years, with no Winnipeg public meetings; and public hearings about the regulation and health of Lake Winnipeg were a final pre election announcements by the NDP government. Both parties have stated they will keep the utility publicly owned.

The NDP and the PC Party of Manitoba joust continually about the route for the new Bi Pole III DC line from northern to southern Manitoba. The line is apparently needed because existing bi pole lines are 40 years old and in the same corridor, which reduces energy supply security and reliability. Both parties, should they form government, intend to build Keeyask and Conawapa hydro generation stations, both of which will require additional transmission lines and corridors.

The cost cutting program includes "delaying all costs on capital projects". The Keeyask generation project already holds a staged licence for infrastructure and site preparation and costs of around $300 million.