(Quebec) The Legault government confirms that electricity rates will increase by at least 2.6% next year and has no intention of intervening to soften this increase.
“That would be to politicize Hydro’s tariffs, and that’s what we refuse to do,” Energy Minister Jonatan Julien said at a press conference on Tuesday. “What do you tell people when it was 5.33% in 2006, 4.3% in 2014? What we are giving Quebeckers is predictability of rate increases based on inflation. There is nothing more predictable than that, and we are not going to interfere politically to change that, ”he added.
Mr. Julien defended his reform, which significantly changed the way electricity prices are set. Previously, the Régie de l’Énergie set the price paid by Quebec consumers. Prices are now set at inflation, which is however higher than expected.
Monday, the Journal of Montreal predicted an increase of at least 2.65%. Quebec does not dispute this estimate. “And we are in reality, as mentioned in the article, there, between 2.6% and 2.7% increase depending on inflation for the rates in September 2022,” said Mr. Julien.
When the bill was adopted, Quebec instead forecast an average annual increase of about 2%. Mr. Julien points out, however, that the Régie de l’énergie has not completely disappeared: in 2025, it will conduct a review of the last five years, and it will be able to reduce tariffs if it realizes that Quebecers are paying too much.
“But we see that there is a constant all the same because Hydro-Quebec’s costs are still correlated by inflation. So this year we get 2.6%. Last year it was 1.3%. There will be two more years left for inflation. And, in 2025, after 60 months, the management will go through the same process that it did every 12 months. And, if there is a correction, she will make it, ”he said.
He also believes that a tariff freeze imposed by ministerial decree would have significant repercussions in 2025. “If today we make a political gesture, that means that we are buying ourselves a tariff shock in 2025. So, he nothing is lost, nothing is created, there is a tendency for inflation, ”he explained.