A Manitoba First Nation and former national chief are throwing their weight behind new-to-Manitoba energy storage methods amid projections of squeezed energy availability.

The province doesn’t have any utility scale battery energy storage systems. Through these, electricity is kept in electrochemical batteries until needed.

Volterra Technology creates the battery technology. It’s part of a new venture: Waywayseecappo Energy Alliance.

Other members include Waywayseecappo First Nation and Ishkonigan Inc., a consulting company founded by former Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine. (Fontaine is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba.)

Care for a side of pet insurance with that dog toy?

Winnipeg-based Petline Insurance Co. has partnered with national retail chain Pet Valu to spread its services.

The ink is drying on the deal. Petline — which covers veterinary bill claims — is tapping into Pet Valu’s 2.8 million members and 824 stores. (Twenty-nine of those are located in Manitoba.)

It’s the first time Pet Valu has done a marketing collaboration “on this scale” with a pet insurance company, chief executive Greg Ramier wrote in a statement.

A Saskatchewan mine deemed a project of national importance by Ottawa will ship its goods on the Hudson Bay Railway.

Eldorado Gold is sending nickel concentrate to Eastern Canada. To get there, it’s trucking the product to the Hudson Bay Railway’s Flin Flon stop.

The nickel concentrate is then railed to The Pas, where it’s transferred to the Canadian National Railway network.

“It’s all kicking off,” said Chris Avery, president of Hudson Bay Railway owner Arctic Gateway Group.

A remote northern Manitoba community has solar panels stocked — and now, it’s creating the province’s first integrated renewable energy microgrid led by a First Nation.