Hydro-Québec is bad? It could be a lot worse.

Prime Minister Philippe Couillard’s government in Québec has approved a $1.4 billion project for Hydro-Québec to build a new transmission line from the Lac St-Jean region to Montreal.  Monsieur Couillard says the new line is absolutely essential in order to serve demand in the most populated area of Québec and to more efficiently deliver electricity over a high tension line rather than several smaller ones.  In short, the Prime Minister is right.  Big tower lines do ensure more electricity gets to the places where it is needed the most.  The added infrastructure improves the overall reliability of the system that users of electricity depend on for their homes and businesses. 

However, not all of those home and business owners along the 400 kilometre proposed right of way are too happy.  Residents of the Rawdon area say their concerns are being ignored by the government which has decided to fast-track construction of the new line.  A farm couple told Radio-Canada that 20% of their woodlot will be cut down so the new line can be built parallel to an existing one built 20 years ago.  A citizens group is already planning to protest the government’s decision.

Rural residents opposing a transmission line and recent rate increases have made Hydro-Québec unpopular with some residents of the province lately.  This is quite a departure from the golden decades of the public utility when it rose to be a symbol of Québec’s economy, technology, and cultural identity.  An entire generation remembers René Lévesque as Resources Minister during the Jean Lesage government as the face of the public takeover of the patchwork of private utilities that formerly provided power to Québec.  Anyone from Québec during the 1960’s and 1970’s seemed to know someone who had gone north to work on building the Manic-5 dam or the even bigger James Bay project.  During the 1970’s, Hydro-Québec’s slogan in advertising was even “On est Hydro-Québécois,” meaning “We’re all Hydro-Quebeckers.”  The slogan indicated the utility’s place as an identifier of Québec and as an institution owned by its residents—who were also its customers.  The slogan was an indication that through James Bay, Manicougan, and the expansion of the 1960’s, the Maîtres chez-nous objective of Jean Lesage and René Lévesque was being accomplished. 

However, with opposition to rate increases and new transmission lines, can it still be truthfully said that we are all Hydro-Quebeckers still?  Is the utility with the distinct orange “Q” logo whose headquarters figures prominently on the Montreal skyline still universally appreciated?  If we take a look at why Hydro has made these recent decisions, the answer should still be yes.  Utilities under government ownership generally serve the public interest much better than those under private ownership.  Hydro-Québec is accountable to the Executive Council (cabinet), the Minister of Resources, and the Prime Minister.  It is also accountable to the Régie de l’énergie, a government-appointed commission that regulates utilities in Québec.  In jurisdictions with private utilities, there is seldom this extent of public oversight.  Private utilities raise rates in order to make larger profits to keep their shareholders happy.  Public utilities raise rates in order to make larger profits to make capital investments that ensure the lights stay on and the factory machines keep running.  The profits Hydro-Québec makes are going to improve the reliability of the service customers receive, including through projects like the new Lac St-Jean to Montreal line.  When New York State Electric and Gas increases its rates, much of the extra profit is going to shareholder dividends.  Hydro-Québec is required to pay a yearly dividend too, but it goes to the treasury of the government and gets used for the services citizens require.  Our power utility is helping to pay for our schools, highways, and hospitals!  Would we rather live in Ontario where the single utility in that province was dismantled and now its remnants are to be sold to private interests?  The ridiculous rate increases in Ontario during recent years have not been necessarily motivated by the need for capital improvements but are instead subsidizing a badly devised renewable energy policy.  Future rate increases in Ontario will unfortunately continue to subsidize this poorly planned and executed program, but now that Premier Wynne’s government is privatising Hydro One, rates will likely increase again in order to maximize profits and shareholder satisfaction.  Residents of Québec should look at what is happening in Ontario and say with satisfaction, we remain Hydro-Quebeckers.