Three organizations are joining forces to demand a freeze on Hydro-Quebec electricity rates after the Crown corporation announced that it would increase them this year and in 2023 by aligning them with the rate of inflation.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Option consommateurs and the Quebec Association of Industrial Electricity Consumers (AQCIE) also want the Quebec government to call on the Régie de l’énergie to ensure that consumers do not pay more than necessary to the monopoly that is Hydro-Quebec.
In January 2022, inflation in Canada exceeded 5% for the first time since September 1991, according to Statistics Canada. By comparison, the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) had increased by 1% in January 2021.
The three organizations recall that Hydro-Québec made profits of $ 3.5 billion in 2021. They calculate that in 2023, the Crown corporation would therefore seek more than $ 600 million additional in the pockets of Quebec consumers.
The director of Option consommateurs, Christian Corbeil, affirms that by withdrawing from the Régie de l’énergie the power to set Hydro-Québec’s rates annually and instead subjecting them to the vagaries of the economy, the government is exposing consumers suffer price shocks while allowing the state corporation to make unreasonable profits.
François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at CFIB, adds that as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recover from the waves of economic restrictions, they are being hit hard by high inflation and that Hydro -Québec cannot extract more from the pockets of SME managers. CFIB calculated that the average rate increase for a small convenience store would be around $200 and for the commercial sector as a whole, the average additional bill would be $518.
On Sunday, the leader of the official opposition, Dominique Anglade, proposed temporarily lifting the QST on the electricity bill up to $4,000, and promised a rate freeze.