The decline in electricity sales outside the province during the first six months of 2024 dealt a blow to Hydro-Québec’s net profit, which amounted to $1.84 billion for this period compared to $2.68 billion at the same date last year.
The executive vice-president – Strategy and Finance at the state-owned company, Maxime Aucoin, indicates that these results were expected, given the “strategy of prudent management of energy stocks necessary due to the low water cycle”.
“This resulted in a decrease in our electricity sales on external markets compared to the same period in 2023. We observed hydraulicity approaching historical averages across the territory,” he said in a press release.
Sales outside Quebec reached $707 million in the first half of the year. They had risen to $1.6 billion during the same period last year, during which “average prices obtained on export markets reached unprecedented levels,” the Crown corporation emphasizes.
In the Quebec market, however, sales were up, although the winter of 2023-2024 was marked by milder temperatures than last year’s winter season.
The energy producer and distributor collected revenues of $7.35 billion in Quebec. Tariff indexation and an increase in residential and commercial demand notably contributed to a better performance than in the first half of 2023.
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