Energy Minister Introduces Bill to Accelerate Green Energy Production by Hydro-Québec

Quebec Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon on Thursday introduced a sweeping bill that aims to accelerate the Legault government’s energy production goals.

The 56-page Bill 69 — An Act to Ensure Responsible Management of Energy Resources and Amend Various Laws — lays the foundation for an integrated energy resources management plan as the province works toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Fitzgibbon told a news conference Thursday that “the purpose of the bill is not to tell Quebecers where we put a dam or where we put wind farms,” but to accelerate green energy production.

“The current processes are too slow and projects are not being implemented fast enough,” he said. “There is no doubt that Quebec will lose its competitive advantage in terms of clean energy.”

He added that the management plan will set the stage for a discussion on how Quebecers want to decarbonize and who will be responsible for paying for it.

Bill 69 would eliminate the requirement for Hydro-Québec to put out tenders, which in turn, Fitzgibbon says, would allow the state-owned corporation to speed up the development of green energy projects such as electric “highways,” wind projects and new hydroelectric plants.

“We need to generate the electricity in 25 years that it took Quebec 100 years to generate,” Fitzgibbon told reporters on Thursday.

Quebec Energy Regulator, Energy regulationscould also change its mandate. The bill would make the Régie responsible for reassessing electricity rates for residential, commercial and industrial customers every three years, rather than every five years as is currently the case.

The Régie will also have the ability to set one or more rates for Hydro-Québec’s residential customers to encourage them to reduce their electricity consumption during periods of peak demand.

While some dynamic pricing programs already exist, they are optional for customers.

Fitzgibbon said there are no immediate plans to introduce mandatory dynamic pricing.

Additionally, the bill would authorize any company that produces electricity from renewable sources to distribute it to a single customer.

This would allow industrial companies to buy renewable energy directly from a private source — without going through Hydro-Québec’s network — provided the facilities are adjacent to each other. Until now, this exception only applied to biomass energy.

Fund to maintain affordable electricity prices

National distribution rate increases are currently capped at three per cent until 2026. They are set by the Régie and are based on Hydro-Québec’s costs of building and maintaining the network.

Fitzgibbon said he can’t guarantee that the cap will remain. However, Bill 69 proposes a financial assistance program to help residential customers pay rising electricity rates.

This Hydro-Québec Domestic Customer Assistance Fund will ensure that prices for residential customers will be kept below the three per cent rate increase indefinitely, as promised by Premier François Legault last fall, without affecting Hydro-Québec’s revenues. Costs above the limit will be covered by the program.

But the amount the state-owned corporation charges commercial and industrial customers could rise faster as the company needs to fund its $185-billion action plan to transform Quebec’s energy sector by 2035.

Businesses Concerned About Electricity Tariffs

Hydro-Québec welcomed the bill because it gives it ““central role” in the energy management plan, but some companies have expressed concerns about rising electricity costs.

Quebec Patronage Council (CPQ) President Karl Blackburn said in a statement Thursday that the bill would allow the business community to anticipate Quebec’s energy potential and make strategic decisions that align with it. But the CPQ statement also called for keeping electricity prices at “a sufficiently competitive level.”

Sharing these views, François Vincent, Vice President Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (FCEI) — a nonprofit advocacy group for small businesses — reported Thursday that electricity rates for small businesses are, on average, 18 to 28 percent higher than the actual costs of operating them.

“All indications are that SMEs will remain Hydro-Québec’s cash cows and will be under significant pressure to increase costs due to its large investment plans,” he said in a statement.

“The fact remains that Bill 69 still has a long way to go and MPs can still improve it before it is adopted.”