Hydro-Quebec

Hydro-Quebec is a company of State pertaining to the Gouvernement of Quebec. It is responsible for the production, the transport and the distribution of the electricity in Quebec. Its head office is located at Montreal.

Among the Canadian actors of the energetic sector, the state enterprise is the only one to have its base with the Quebec.

History

The law on the hydroelectric Commission of Quebec , was deposited on April 14th, 1944 by the government of Adélard Godbout. This law engaged the nationalization of the Montreal Light, Heat and Power , private monopoly of provincial electricity, giving rise to Hydro-Quebec. The company had as an initial mandate to serve the area of Montreal in “carrying out a healthy financial management and selling electricity with low the possible cost”. The new entity must then rehabilitate a decayed network and develop it in all the province.

At the time of the Quiet revolution, Rene Lévesque, as Minister for the Natural wealths of Quebec, makes the promotion of the creation of a domestic network of electricity. After main efforts to convince its assistants of the Liberal party of Quebec, Rene Lévesque share in election chief clerk at the side of Jean Lesage with the slogan “Masters on our premises”. The choice of the hydro-electricity is also justified for independence reasons: the province is rich in rivers, but low in hydrocarbons which are imported certain Canadian provinces (natural gas) or from abroad (oil of the the North Sea especially). In 1963, following the re-election of the government of Lesage and under the impulse of Rene Lévesque, one second phase of nationalization is started: Hydro-Quebec becomes the single supplier of Québécois electricity by joining together all the credits of the private companies ensuring the production, transport and the distribution of electricity are nationalized, except for the installations of the Alcan on the Rivière Saguenay, of ten municipal distribution networks (e.g. Sherbrooke, Magog, Jonquière, Westmount) and installations the company Énergie MacLaren on the river the Hare, in the area of the Outaouais. This turning also marked that of the overall development of the public company which must face a strong demand in electricity, 7% per annum, driving with the multiplication of the construction of stoppings.

In 1965, in full heart of the construction of the project of the Manicouagan, a young engineer of Hydro-Quebec comes to give the idea to transport the electricity of the Manicouagan complex to Montreal in lines to high voltage of 735 Kv. This was completely unthinkable for the time. Despite everything, the project was carried out and Quebec was recognized at that time for its ingeniousness.

The international turning is taken in 1978. Until this date Hydro-Quebec had for only mission of developing energy in Quebec and of supporting the economic development of the province. A new subsidiary company, Hydro-Quebec International, are created with the mandate to act abroad, as an organization of council in its fields of competence (distribution, production, transport, etc). New entity appuit on the know-how of its head office, whether it is technical, financial, or human.

In 1981, the government of the Parti Québécois redefines the social role of Hydro-Quebec by modifying the terms of the social pact of 1944. The government henceforth receives 75% of the surpluses Nets in dividends.

Structure

Contrary to the majority of the companies of electricity in North America, Hydro-Quebec a long time integrated the production, transport, the distribution and the sale of electricity. In 2001, to adapt to the market evolution (in particular with export) and of the regulation framework, it gathered the majority of its activities in four autonomous divisions: Hydro-Quebec Production; TransÉnergie (transmission electricity - founded in 1997); Hydro-Quebec Distribution; Hydro-Quebec Equipment and SEBJ. Only divisions TransÉnergie and Distribution are subjected to the Régie energy. The Company of Energy of the Bay James (SEBJ), subsidiary company founded in 1971, carried out the development of the complex in particular the Large one, in the North of Quebec, which provides more half of electricity produced to Quebec. For its part, the Research institute of Hydro-Quebec (IREQ) acquired an international reputation since 1967, by innovations in bond with the complexity of the Québécois network; its laboratories are located at Varennes and Shawinigan.

96% of the electricity produced by Hydro-Quebec hydraulic east of origin. The nuclear production, thermics and wind mill are marginal. According to the current strategies of the company, the wind die however has to develop, parallel to the hydroelectricity and with energy efficiency.

Tariffs

Its patrimonial tariff is of 2,79 ¢ kWh whereas its selling price is of approximately 5 ¢. The patrimonial tariff is the price to which division Production (HQP) sells electricity with the division Distribution (HQD), which resells with the consumers. The “patrimonial” term comes owing to the fact that this tariff applies to a large block of electricity (165 billion kWh, 165 TWh) which corresponds roughly to the production of the “patrimonial” power stations of Hydro-Quebec, that is to say power stations of the Complexe Large the, of the river Manicouagan, on the Coast-North, of the river of Outaouais and the river St-Laurent.

The tariffs are determined by the Régie energy, following public sittings. There exists more than one ten different, applicable tariffs according to the type of consumer (residential, industrial, commercial) and of the volume of consumption. All these tariffs vary in block, in order to protect interfinancement which takes place in particular between the residential customers (who pay less expensive) and the commercial customers (who pay expensive).

Customers

In 2005, the export sale accounted for only 4% of volume, but 30% of the profits, thanks to the broking of energy.

On the internal markets, the sales at the large companies know the greatest growth; they represent approximately a third of the sales in Quebec, just as the residential sector.

An almost single characteristic of the electricity demand in Quebec is the massive recourse to electricity for the heating of the buildings, as well residential as commercial; this involves a request for particularly important point in winter.

See too

Notes and references of the article

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