(Quebec) Unable to obtain energy blocks to electrify their factories, large Quebec companies have instead chosen to invest in the United States. The organization that represents them is asking Quebec to give priority to local companies in the future.
“It’s unfortunate that these investments are being made in the United States rather than in Quebec and that this really reduces their carbon footprint in Quebec,” lamented Véronique Proulx, President and CEO of Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec (MEQ), during her testimony to the parliamentary committee on the Legault government’s energy bill.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Veronique Proulx
We actually have some members who have told us clearly, given that we do not have access to energy blocks, and that there is no predictability [que] Investments will be made on the American side.
Véronique Proulx, CEO of Manufacturers and Exporters of Quebec (MEQ)
Why is Quebec finding itself in a situation where it is missing out on investments from private companies that want to reduce their carbon footprint by giving up fuels like natural gas or fuel oil and choosing electricity?
Mme Proulx and large companies do not know this, since they do not know the analysis grids of the Ministry of the Economy, which decides whether a company can obtain new electricity supplies since the adoption of a law in 2023.
They were told no, but don’t know why.
Grid not found
“Our members have not seen the grid that allows the government to evaluate which project is selected or not. When we talk about transparency, it is about making it available, being able to understand how we qualify projects and how we make project choices,” she explained.
She therefore hopes that everyone can have access to an analysis grid based on objective criteria, which makes it possible to decide who has access to Quebec electricity.
Since Tuesday, a major debate has been taking place in the National Assembly. The question that is being asked: who will be entitled to the green energy produced by Hydro-Québec, and at what price?
Le PDG d’Hydro-Québec Michael Sabia a donné le ton, mardi, en reprochant au gouvernement Legault d’avoir trop donné d’énergie aux nouvelles entreprises, étrangères ou pas, au détriment de la décarbonation des industries déjà existantes. « Cartes sur table […]I think we need to rebalance things,” he said.
He estimates that 75% of the new electricity produced by his $155 billion to $185 billion investment plan by 2035 should be reserved for decarbonization. But for now, the Legault government is almost exclusively focusing on new businesses and the “paying jobs” dear to François Legault.
Climate targets
Mme Proulx is not the only business representative to make this observation. Jocelyn Allard, president of the Quebec Association of Industrial Electricity Consumers, said Wednesday that several companies have been refused energy blocks intended for decarbonization projects.
“Many of the members were frustrated to see blocks that were not allocated to them. To do decarbonization projects, to achieve decarbonization objectives and replace natural gas with electricity,” he explained.
This is surprising, considering that the Legault government had earmarked more than $2.1 billion in 2022 to help the industrial sector go green in its plan for a green economy. Industrialists must reduce their emissions so that Quebec can meet its climate targets in 2030 and 2050.
The liberal Marwah Rizqy also highlighted the inconsistency of making companies pay for their pollution, then refusing them the energy intended to turn their backs on hydrocarbons.
Québec solidaire stressed the need to have objective criteria and an appeal procedure for companies that feel aggrieved.
Mme Proulx didn’t go that far, but she believes that the solution involves objective criteria that favour companies already established in Quebec, and that have energy needs to expand their facilities, or to decarbonize. She is also calling for the creation of an interactive map, to find out where energy is available in the regions of Quebec, as well as predictability. “It’s one thing to be told no, but will we have access to it in 1 year, in 2 years, in 5 years?” she asked.
Risk of privatization
She believes that self-production and private energy production in an industrial park could alleviate the electricity shortage. Currently, she stressed, companies with carbon neutrality objectives are buying private green energy contracts in the United States “to reduce their carbon footprint,” rather than investing in Quebec.
This aspect has however been criticized by the opposition parties in Quebec: they see it as a breach towards a partial privatization of the state-owned company. In an exchange with the union that represents Hydro-Québec employees (SCFP-Québec), the PQ member Pascal Paradis said he feared losing billions.
The CUPE and the FTQ have also asked Minister Fréchette – who assures that she does not want to privatize Hydro-Québec – to abandon several articles of the bill that would allow HQ to sell power plants of less than 100 MW, or that would, according to them, put an end to HQ’s monopoly on energy transmission. They also believe that with the adoption of the bill, the percentage of private energy production could increase significantly.