(Quebec) The Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, is about to announce that he has accepted, but also refused, dozens of power requests made to Hydro-Quebec by companies, in by virtue of a new power that he has given himself. The companies that benefit from the few hundred megawatts in question will not be named, nor will those who have been refused.
Last February, Pierre Fitzgibbon had the National Assembly adopt the law “aimed in particular at capping the price indexation rate of Hydro-Québec’s domestic distribution tariffs at 3% and at increasing the supervision of the obligation to distribute electricity”.
This law notably ensures that Hydro-Québec is no longer obliged to accept all power requests submitted by companies for less than 50 megawatts. It is now possible to refuse requests of 5 MW or more.
Under the law, it is the minister who has the power to choose which business projects will benefit from the megawatts and which will not. The legislative text specifies that Hydro-Québec “must obtain the authorization of the Minister to distribute electricity” to businesses.
Also according to the law, “before issuing a distribution authorization, the Minister takes into account, in particular, the technical capacities [of Hydro-Québec] for the connection as well as the economic spinoffs and the social and environmental impacts of the use of the electricity requested”.
In parliamentary committee, Pierre Fitzgibbon said he intended to be “parsimonious in the granting of megawatts” and to “choose wisely the projects that will benefit from them”. He warned that at most half of the many power requests made by companies to Hydro-Quebec would get the green light. These demands then totaled 23,000 MW – the equivalent of 13 hydroelectric complexes like the Romaine. “We will probably end up at 8,000-10,000 MW of industrial projects that should be done” to allow Quebec to “achieve its GHG reduction targets while creating wealth over the next few years”, he specified.
The Minister will soon announce the allocation of a first block of hundreds of megawatts under the new law. It will be specified that a few dozen companies will benefit from it, while adding the number of projects for which requests for supply have been refused. The list will however be anonymous. And this, in the name of industrial secrecy, we explain to Mr. Fitzgibbon’s office.
During the study of the bill in Quebec this winter, the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce said that the new power of the minister “raises questions and concerns among businesses, in the medium and long term. [This provision] brings a perception that a door could eventually be opened to political interventions taken on ideological grounds and contrary to economic growth and the interests of Quebec.” It asked for further clarification of the project evaluation criteria.
Hydro-Quebec was demanding the changes made with the law because it is overwhelmed with requests for supply and can no longer afford to accept all those of 50 MW or less.
