2023-05-04 22:41:15
The Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, did not rule out on Thursday the possibility of presenting a bill by the end of the year that would encourage Hydro-Québec customers to start their dishwasher at night to take advantage of cheaper rates.
In December, Mr. Fitzgibbon had already formulated this intention, but Prime Minister François Legault then said that this hypothesis would not be considered in the short term.
Thursday, during the study of the credits of the Ministry of Energy, Mr. Fitzgibbon twice gave the example of the pressure that Hydro-Québec customers would exert if they decided to recharge their electric car in the periods when consumption peaks.
“We will have to be innovative in our way of consuming because if all these vehicles are charging at five o’clock in the evening, there will be power problems and it will not work”, he declared in parliamentary committee.
Asked to clarify his thoughts on the subject, Mr. Fitzgibbon said that a bill expected this fall could include aspects that affect residential rates, after a consultation period.
“There are a lot of people who will recommend to us a modulation of pricing to ensure that behaviors are adjusted as needed. The number one issue, if people don’t want to be told that we are going to increase electricity rates, maybe we can reduce them for people who consume better. »
Mr. Fitzgibbon clarified the example of the dishwashers he had used in December.
“The dishwasher is a good example, if you are able to have a timer on your dishwasher and you consume at two in the morning, you will pay less,” he said.
In January, Mr. Legault said that the bill expected in the fall would only address business pricing.
Thursday, Mr. Fitzgibbon explained that the modulation of residential rates could also be addressed in this legislative text.
“We put commercial, residential and industrial on the table, we put everything on the table,” he said.
Mr. Fitzgibbon said that the increase in energy efficiency requirements, which were increased from 8 TWh to 25 TWh recently, makes it necessary to act.
“Behaviours will have to follow. Will modulated pricing be needed to encourage behavior? Maybe. But of course you have to be careful. »
The minister’s office then indicated that modulation would not lead to an increase in current tariffs but rather a reduction to encourage consumption outside peak periods.
Manage demand
In the context where Hydro-Québec is faced with the end of electricity surpluses and a growth in demand of 25 TWh by 2032, Mr. Fitzgibbon affirmed that he had recently had to refuse 17 connection projects submitted by companies.
“Technically, Hydro-Quebec couldn’t connect them,” he said.
Mr. Fitzgibbon will unveil selection criteria next week under which applications over 5 MW will be considered. The Minister affirmed that the costs for Hydro-Québec, the economic and regional impact, and the reduction of greenhouse gases will be among the elements considered by the government to respond to the 74 projects of companies which currently wish to obtain energy in Quebec.
Mr. Fitzgibbon expressed confidence in being able to add between 6,000 MW and 10,000 MW of wind power to Hydro-Québec’s capacity by 2030.
During the election campaign, Prime Minister François Legault said he wanted to relaunch the construction of hydroelectric dams to add 100 TWh by 2050, or half of the current Hydro-Québec capacity. This project had to meet the demands of companies and ensure the energy transition towards carbon neutrality.
In the parliamentary committee for the study of the appropriations of the Crown corporation, Mr. Fitzgibbon affirmed that discussions were still in progress with Newfoundland and Labrador, in order to renew the supply agreement for the Churchill Falls which matures in 2041.
“It’s a colossal job,” he said without going into details.
The vice-president of sustainable development and community relations, Julie Boucher, indicated that preliminary analyzes have begun to determine the potential for a hydroelectric dam on the Petit Mécatina River.
“When you do a preliminary study, you don’t arrive in the field, in a community, with a cement mixer, but rather with test tubes,” she said.
The vice-president for integrated planning of energy needs and risks, Dave Rhéaume, recognized the impact of major export contracts to the markets of New York and Massachusetts states on the energy situation in Quebec.
The agreements do not provide for the delivery of energy during peak periods in Quebec, he specified, acknowledging that this still precedes the pressure on Hydro-Quebec.
“In both cases, these are significant volumes of energy, so it puts pressure on us earlier than if we did not have these agreements to add energy production,” he said. .
Breakdowns and burials
Following the massive blackout that left customers without power for periods of up to a week, in some cases in April, Mme Boucher pointed out that we will have to get used to this type of situation because of climate change.
Since 1987, five of the 15 major outage-causing events have occurred after 2019, she said.
“I don’t want to be a bird of misfortune this afternoon, but certainly we have to prepare and make sure that we anticipate that there could be breakdowns. We will do everything to ensure that they are as few as possible, as short as possible. But as a customer, business owner and community, we also need to be prepared for this eventuality. »
Régis Tellier, vice-president of operations and maintenance, said that burying electrical wires, an issue that resurfaced at the time of these major outages, is a costly and complex option. Currently 11% of the network, connecting 600,000 customers, is buried underground.
“We would like to double it and increase it, but it would cost all Quebecers between 8 and 10 billion for perhaps around 500,000 customers, because the further we go, the fewer customers there will be to connect, in terms of density, on the network,” he said.
Mr. Tellier explained that where the trees are planted, on residential land, is likely to have the same result but at a lower cost than landfilling.
“Behind my house, where my distribution line is, I planted a lilac because it stops at three, four meters in height, he said. The maple, I planted it in front of my house because a silver maple, like during the last crisis in Montreal, with the ice, even 20 or 30 feet from our servitude, it fell on the infrastructure and generated a failure. »
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