In less than a year, this is the third exceptional weather event that has seriously damaged the Hydro-Québec distribution network. The exceptional is becoming our ordinary.
Last May, it was a derecho with winds reaching 150 km/h which caused power outages in 550,000 homes. This line of violent thunderstorms moved quickly in the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Outaouais. Hydro-Quebec had to pay 70 million to repair the damage.
On December 23 and 24, a strong storm hit several regions of Quebec, depriving 640,000 customers of electricity. The reconnection of all households took a good week and a certain number of customers had to wait more than ten days before being restored to power. In the middle of winter, it’s long. The coordination of the teams, both those of Hydro-Québec and the contribution of subcontracted workers, did not seem optimal. Cost for the Crown corporation: 55 million.
And now, it’s the ice that has taken its toll. In all, more than one million customers were affected in the Montreal, Outaouais and Estrie regions.
In terms of communication, the operation was successful, Premier François Legault having quickly moved to the head office of Hydro-Québec like a great general who came to inquire about the progress of his troops during a fateful offensive. Hydro-Québec was reassuring. It must be said that we are in April, spring is coming: the situation would have been much more difficult in the extreme cold winter weather.
Even if the government corporation’s reaction to this ice storm seemed more adequate than during the holiday storm, the question arises: could Hydro-Québec have done better? Does it have enough linemen and pruners in the field? Should it adapt its methods to deal with increasingly frequent extreme conditions? Monday, five days after the first blackouts, 30,000 customers were still without power.
The 1998 ice storm had forced Hydro-Québec to reinforce the high and medium voltage lines of its transmission network which, this time, was in no way affected by the last storm. It is rather what is called the “last mile” connected to the customer who has taken it for his cold.
The reflection at Hydro-Québec has already begun. It now needs to assess how its distribution network can be improved to deal with the increased frequency of extreme weather events. Knowing that the cost of burying all its sons is prohibitive – CEO Sophie Brochu has launched the figure of 100 billion – is partial and gradual burial possible? Could new energy storage technologies be put to use? It is to be considered.
Increasing its available electricity volume by 50% by 2050, and even more, is a major challenge for Hydro-Québec. But modernizing its distribution network to adapt it to the effects of climate change, while strengthening its ability to react to extreme weather, is just as important.