CAQ's energy reform will be expensive, warn two researchers

Photo: Olivier Zuida Archives Le Devoir Hydro-Québec plans investments of $155 to $185 billion to double its production, create wealth and decarbonize the economy.

Caroline Plante – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published yesterday at 4:02 p.m.

• Quebec City

The Legault government’s energy reform will cost taxpayers dearly, and there is no guarantee that it will help achieve our climate goals, experts fear.

Jean-François Blain and Bertrand Schepper, from the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomies (IRIS), looked at Bill 69, now led by the new Minister of Economy and Energy, Christine Fréchette.

In the brief they will present to her next week, they state that the government’s plan to massively increase energy production by 2035 will lead to a rate increase of 65 to 75%.

Recall that Hydro-Québec is planning investments of $155 to $185 billion to double its production, create wealth and decarbonize the economy.

Growth to decarbonize?

This plan is based on a “pharaonic” growth in consumption of 56 TWh in 11 years, while it has only increased by 13 TWh over the last 20 years, note Messrs. Blain and Schepper.

This “will lead to at least rate increases of 65 to 75% cumulatively over 11 years, or 5 to 6% per year, and will needlessly impoverish households and businesses,” they write in their report.

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Premier François Legault has repeatedly stated that as long as he is in office, he will cap residential rate increases at 3%. However, business rates will increase.

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A relief fund would be set up to compensate Hydro-Québec for losses related to the residential rate freeze, which suggests that all taxpayers would foot the bill.

Furthermore, according to Messrs. Blain and Schepper, Bill 69 does not guarantee the decarbonization of the economy, because it is not accompanied by any plan to reduce the consumption of oil and gas products.

They note that the former Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, has already attributed a third of the planned growth (+- 2500 MW) to industrial projects that will not contribute to decarbonization.

“The approach favored by the government […] consists of using an alleged energy transition as a pretext to relaunch industrial investment at the expense of the community,” they accuse in their brief.

An antidemocratic bill, according to the FTQ

For its part, the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) believes that Bill 69 presents “significant risks for the democratic governance of natural resources The union notes, among other things, that the legislative text “centralizes excessive powers within the Ministry of the Economy, to the detriment of a balanced and concerted approach.”

With this bill, the Legault government is neglecting environmental and biodiversity issues, favouring purely economic decisions instead, according to him.

The FTQ is therefore calling for the suspension of the study of the bill and the establishment of an “Integrated Energy Resources Management Plan” before any resumption of discussions.

“Energy resource management cannot be left to chance or subject to hasty decisions,” it maintains in its brief.

“The choices we make today will define the future not only of our economy, but also of our environment, our quality of life and our place on the international scene.”

Six days of consultations

Regardless, the government will move forward by holding six days of special consultations, starting next Tuesday.

A few dozen groups, including Hydro-Québec, Énergir and Option consommateurs, to name a few, will parade before Ms. Fréchette to put forward their points of view.

Newly sworn in on Thursday, Minister Christine Fréchette promised to do her homework and “arrive prepared to welcome the groups on this very important bill.”