(Quebec) Creation of an assistance fund for domestic customers, modulation of electricity rates based on the time of consumption from 2026 and permission for Hydro-Québec to proceed without a call for tenders to find new energy sources, Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon has finally tabled his energy bill, which casts a wide net.
The Legault government opens the door to the modulation of electricity rates for residential customers from 2026 to “promote the reduction of electricity consumption during peak periods as well as a rate or conditions of electricity distribution service applicable to this clientele which vary according to energy intensity”.
“We want more wind turbines, more solar power, and new dams,” said the Minister of the Economy and Energy in a promotional video released Thursday. He is due to explain his vision in a press briefing later today.
The bill casts a wide net: it asks the minister to establish a roadmap towards the decarbonization of Quebec in 2050. It also provides for the creation of an Assistance Fund to “limit the impact of the increase in transportation rates. distribution of Hydro-Québec electricity for domestic customers”, in a context where Hydro-Québec’s 100 billion investment plan to double its production capacity will be expensive.
The government will ask the Energy Authority to take into account its “economic, social and environmental concerns” which it will have to take into account in its decisions.
It removes the obligation to obtain authorization from the government so that the Ministers of the Economy, Natural Resources and Forests or the Minister of the Environment can “make buildings or facilities available to Hydro-Québec. hydraulic forces in the domain of the State”. Remember that the Ministry of the Environment must own 930 government dams, including 391 with high capacity.
It also opens the door to the relaunch of private mini-power plants, by raising to 100 mW the power threshold that the government can “rent” to a company.
The bill specifies that any Hydro-Québec employee may enter any building for certain purposes, such as carrying out preparatory work or clearing the poles and wires of the transmission or distribution network of all vegetation. electricity, for example.
To allow Hydro-Québec to quickly increase its energy production, Quebec “withdraws its obligation to proceed by call for tenders” with “regard to electricity supply contracts”. In certain cases, it will not even need the agreement of the Energy Authority.
It is an understatement to say that Pierre Fitzgibbon’s bill was expected. The super minister has been talking about it since December 2022 and has commented on it extensively since then. The guideline: he wants to push Quebec towards energy sobriety, accelerate the development of new electricity production as well as simplify and relax the criteria for private companies to produce energy for their needs and those of other companies .