The Court of Appeal agreed to hear the case of opponents of the agreement between Hydro-Québec and Énergir which provides that the state company will pay significant financial compensation to the gas distributor who will lose the income of customers who abandon gas for dual energy.
This agreement has already been the subject of two divergent decisions by the Régie de l’énergie, the second of which ruled in favor of those who are opposed to Hydro-Québec customers paying for Énergir’s loss of revenue. . Rarely, Hydro-Québec and Énergir challenged the Régie’s decision in Superior Court and won their case.
The Quebec Association of Industrial Electricity Consumers and the Forest Industry Council requested permission to appeal and this permission has just been granted.
“These questions are of general interest to all electricity consumers in the province since they concern the establishment of electricity distribution rates,” said the judge who looked into the question by accepting the call request.
Significant sums are at stake: the agreement between Hydro-Québec and Énergir would increase electricity rates by 1.4%, in addition to the regular annual increase. By 2050, $2.4 billion could thus be drawn from electricity rates to compensate for Énergir’s loss of revenue.