Laval will impose a moratorium on the installation of natural gas-powered appliances in the residential sector in the coming months, in an effort to free itself from fossil fuel sources. The third largest city in Quebec “is on the wrong track,” retorts Hydro-Quebec, which opposes this initiative.
It was without fanfare that Laval City Council last week mandated the City’s general management to prepare a draft by-law “aiming to impose a moratorium on the installation of natural gas-powered equipment in the sector. residential area on Laval territory”. Once the drafting of this draft by-law is completed, it must then be adopted at a future meeting of the municipal council. It may then enter into force officially, on a date yet to be determined.
“The idea is really to move away from fossil fuels, to bet on electricity”, notes the mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer, in an interview with the Duty Friday. This moratorium will therefore have the effect of prohibiting any connection to the Énergir network for new residential constructions on the territory of Île Jésus. Owners whose current residence is already supplied with natural gas will retain an acquired right to use this source of energy, which will also remain permitted in the non-residential sector.
“It does not affect businesses, the agricultural community or existing homes,” assures Mayor Boyer, who nevertheless hopes that by banning natural gas from new residential construction, Laval will be able to reduce its gas emissions to greenhouse effect (GHG). Currently, 6% of them come from the residential building sector.
Hydro-Québec criticizes Laval
This draft regulation is coldly received by Hydro-Québec. “The City of Laval is on the wrong track. Such a decision would have direct consequences on our ability to effectively electrify the territory of Laval and to fuel economic development there,” reacted Friday the team manager for media relations at Hydro-Québec, Maxence Huard-Lefebvre. In an interview, the latter explains that the use of natural gas as an energy source represents a way of reducing the demand that the public company must meet during peak periods.
“The needs during the peak period will continue to increase in the coming years”, recalls Mr. Huard-Lefebvre, who notes that the conversion of natural gas heating systems to dual-energy systems is already increasing the pressure on the network. of Hydro-Quebec distribution. The government corporation thus intends to communicate with Laval to inform it of its opposition to its draft regulation. “It’s a subject that we will definitely discuss with them,” says Mr. Huard-Lefebvre.
During its last annual exercise, the gas distributor Énergir connected 153 new residential customers in Laval. The city thus has 7,199 residential customers and 4,230 “business” customers, the company indicated to the Duty Friday.
“It should be noted that we will be able to take the time to see how the draft by-law of the City of Laval will be developed to better understand its application,” reacted in writing the public affairs adviser to Énergir, Lambert Gosselin. The latter also affirmed that the company is “firmly determined” to reduce its GHG emissions in the building sector. “This is why it has committed to ensuring that any new connection to its network will consume 100% renewable energy by 2024,” added Mr. Gosselin.
The mayor of Laval is not ruling out the possibility of extending this ban to residential buildings that are already powered by natural gas. “There, we help people who heat with oil to convert to electricity [en leur offrant une subvention]. Maybe one day we will be ready to make the conversion also for people who heat with natural gas, ”he slipped on the phone.
Communauto and tree planting
This Ville de Laval initiative is part of the recent tabling of its Climate Plan, which provides for investments totaling $276 million in the coming years. Already, at the end of March, the Government of Quebec announced financial support of nearly $65 million to the City to help it implement this plan, in which Laval is committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 33% by 2035.
This plan notably provides for investments of $81 million intended to subsidize the conversion of fossil energies by renewable energies in existing buildings and new municipal constructions. The acquisition of green spaces is also on the menu, as is the development of bicycle paths and the electrification of municipal vehicles, among others.
“For the daily lives of citizens, what this will change is that they risk seeing more trees in highly developed sectors, especially downtown and throughout Greater Chomedey,” said Mayor Boyer, which explains that particular attention will be paid to sectors “where there is a high rate of deprivation”.
The City also plans to bet on “a fleet of shared cars” for some of its employees in order to reduce their ecological footprint. “So that means that during the day, the town planning inspector could use a Communauto car, for example, and after five o’clock, after his shift, the car is available to the public,” says Mr. Boyer.