(Quebec) Creation of a residential customer assistance fund, opening to modulation of electricity rates based on the time of consumption from 2026 and authorization for Hydro-Québec to proceed without a call for tenders for find new sources of energy, Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon has finally tabled his energy bill, which casts a wide net.
The Legault government is asking the Energy Authority to set prices from 2026 to “promote the reduction of electricity consumption during peak periods”, and based on “energy intensity”. Minister Fitzgibbon wants a debate on the issue of tiered fares. Do we have to pay more for our electricity when we heat our swimming pool, or when we run our dishwasher during peak consumption, for example? “Modulation is logic itself, we see it all over the world. » This modulation will however be optional, argued the minister in an interview with our columnist Francis Vailles, after asserting at a press conference that the authority “could” impose it with its law.
Pierre Fitzgibbon wants to move quickly. To decarbonize Quebec by 2050, “we need to practically double our current electricity production and we have 25 years to do it.” “That’s very short,” he said. The solution: allow Hydro-Québec to develop energy projects “without calls for tenders.” He says the Régie de l’énergie will be able to “control” the cost of projects. “No more of the many stages of government decrees that precede criteria grids, that go to the Régie, that lead to a call for tenders, that qualify suppliers. All that took way too long,” the minister said.
With his bill, Pierre Fitzgibbon wants to launch a major debate: who should pay for the energy transition and achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 to contribute to the fight against climate change. “It’s a huge social project. Our hope is that everyone gets on board,” he said. To achieve this, between 150 and 200 TWh must be produced to replace “dirty energy” from hydrocarbons. Its vision must be found in an integrated energy resources management plan unveiled in 2026. “Who will pay for this? Are you the companies? Are you the businesses? Are you residential? Are you the government? Are you Hydro-Québec? This is a debate we need to have. »
“There will be no price shock in the short term. I can reassure the population and businesses, this will not happen,” said Mr. Fitzgibbon. Quebec maintains its promise to limit the increase in residential rates to a maximum of 3%, but only until 2026. To achieve this, it will use its own funds. The potential cost: between 100 million and 300 million per year according to models. But after 2026, things are likely to get tougher. “The increases that will occur with the new production at marginal cost, different from the heritage block, will arrive in 2028, 2029, 2030, 2032, until 2035,” said the minister.
“It is out of the question to privatize or denationalize anything,” Pierre Fitzgibbon said. However, it will allow a company like TES Canada, in Mauricie, to sell wind energy to its neighbors “to the extent that these installations are located on an adjacent location”. The exception already existed, but for electricity produced by forest biomass. “We want to allow renewable energy producers to sell part of their production to a consumer located on adjacent land, but not on the Hydro-Québec transmission network. When we talk about energy transition, we must add forces and not divide them,” said Mr. Fitzgibbon.
Hydro-Québec must significantly increase its energy production by 2050. It “will want to focus on large projects,” summarized Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon. This bill allows it to sell its small power plants of 100 MW and less to municipalities and indigenous communities. The state-owned company owns 16 hydroelectric power stations of less than 100 MW, located notably on the Saint-Maurice, Sainte-Anne, Outaouais and Saint-Laurent rivers, for example.