The Prime Minister assures that Hydro-Québec will remain a jewel that belongs to all Quebecers, even if companies build and produce “their own electricity.”
“There is so much work, so much development to be done in wind power, in dams by Hydro-Québec, that if there are companies that want to help us by building their own electricity, by building infrastructure that will help them “allowing us to have clean energy, that exists,” noted Prime Minister François Legault on Thursday morning.
Despite this opening, he assured that Hydro-Québec will remain a state corporation.
“There is no question of privatizing Hydro-Québec, it is a jewel which belongs to all Quebecers and it will continue to belong to all Quebecers.”
On the sidelines of the visit of the CEO of Hydro-Québec, Michael Sabia, to the National Assembly, who comes to defend his action plan, François Legault reiterated that his objective is to “become a world leader in the green economy .”
The Prime Minister indicated that Hydro’s new CEO had tabled “an ambitious plan” which will create “tens of thousands of paying jobs.”
“It’s incredible, what we’re doing. This is an exciting project for the fight against climate change,” said Mr. Legault. “We are in the process of training more people, among other things in construction, because we will have to build wind turbines. We will have to build dams, raise dams.”
Fears
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire believes that Hydro-Québec’s monopoly is threatened.
“It’s worrying. The choice that Quebecers made, one or two generations ago now, to nationalize hydroelectricity is threatened,” he said, fearing that the government is in the process, behind the scenes, “of denationalizing » Hydro-Québec.
The Minister of Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, also pointed out that the privatization of Hydro-Québec was never in the government’s plans.
Recently, Pierre Fitzgibbon said that projects like that of TES, a large company that produces its own electricity, are “only the beginning”.
Today, he continues by indicating that this gesture is “legal”.
“They are not on the Hydro-Québec network […] Self-production is permitted.”
Patrick Bonin, head of the Climate-Energy campaign at Greenpeace Canada, is very critical of projects like that of TES.
“For us, in fact, they can self-produce on their land. But this is not what is proposed with projects like TES, 30 kilometers from the factory where the electricity would be produced. Obviously, if there are environmental impacts for projects that are on the ground like small modular nuclear reactors or projects based on fossil fuels. Any project must be evaluated according to its environmental impacts,” he pointed out.
Debate
The minister indicated that the arrival of the CEO of Hydro-Québec will not be the place to create a debate on the bill on the regulation of clean energy in Quebec.
Mr. Fitzgibbon points out that the “real debate” will take place when he tables his reform of the Hydro-Québec and energy bills in the spring. However, no parliamentary commission is planned, he repeated.
“I spent three months in consultations, it’s public […] I have about three feet of reporting,” he mentioned.
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