Latest news with #Hydro‑Québec
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Quebec, Newfoundland energy touts Canadian independence to Trump: Hydro‑Québec CEO
ST. JOHN'S — The chief executive of Hydro‑Québec says a sweeping new energy deal with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is a signal to the United States that Canada can get "big things done." Michael Sabia was in St. John's, N.L., Tuesday, where he pitched the draft deal as a turning point in Quebec's relationship with Newfoundland and Labrador, and a step toward Canada becoming an "energy superpower." "Let's be clear: Canada is under threat," Sabia told a room full of representatives from Newfoundland and Labrador's energy industry. "This is a time of real economic and political uncertainty. It's a time when Canadians need to work together to build the future," he said. "Ultimately, that's what this deal is about. It's about building now to secure Canada's energy future." Sabia was speaking to the crowd at a conference held by Energy N.L., Newfoundland and Labrador's energy industry association. He was joined on stage by Jennifer Williams, president and chief executive of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. The two discussed an agreement in principle announced last year that would end a contract signed in 1969 that allows Hydro‑Québec to buy the lion's share of the energy from the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant at prices far below market value. The contract has long been a source of bitterness in Canada's easternmost province. The new arrangement would end the contentious deal 16 years early and see Hydro‑Québec pay for more power while developing new projects with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro along the Churchill River. Newfoundland and Labrador would also get more power from Churchill Falls. The memorandum of understanding has its critics. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have been uneasy with the draft deal, demanding the Liberal government have it independently reviewed. The party also called for a halt to ongoing negotiations of final contracts, saying a proposed national energy corridor could bring better opportunities. Some in Newfoundland and Labrador have also wondered if Hydro‑Québec can be trusted and whether the province will truly get enough value for its resources. "Show me a deal where there hasn't ever been skeptics," Williams challenged when asked about those who have criticisms. Sabia addressed the tangled history of the provinces several times, and said repeatedly that the new arrangement was "balanced" and served the needs of both Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. Both sides made concessions, he said, adding that the deal contained items neither side wanted. He refused to elaborate on what those were. Sabia said the agreement is the "single most important signal we can send to the United States right now," as long as it goes ahead as planned. Williams agreed the proposed projects need to proceed smoothly and quickly, repeating "rigour and speed are not incompatible." Both said they were heartened by signs from Prime Minister Mark Carney that he would speed up project approvals. Williams touted the deal's promised economic benefits, which includes $17 billion in revenue to the provincial treasury by 2041. Newfoundland and Labrador expects to be carrying a net debt of $19.4 billion by the end of the current fiscal year. "We have to take this opportunity now," Williams told reporters after the event. "If we don't, something this momentous may not come again for a very long time, and who will we have to blame? We have got to take this moment on." Officials hope to have final agreements hammered out next year. In the meantime, preliminary topographic and soil studies are expected to begin in Labrador this summer, Sabia said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025. The Canadian Press
Global News
5 days ago
- Business
- Global News
Quebec, Newfoundland energy touts Canadian independence to Trump: Hydro‑Québec CEO
The chief executive of Hydro‑Québec says a sweeping new energy deal with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is a signal to the United States that Canada can get 'big things done.' Michael Sabia told an energy conference in St. John's, N.L., that Canada's sovereignty was under threat from U.S. President Donald Trump. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Sabia says the draft deal will strengthen the country's energy security and independence — as long as it goes ahead as planned. A contract signed in 1969 allows Hydro‑Québec to buy most of the power from the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador for prices well below market value. A new tentative agreement unveiled last year would end that contract and see Hydro‑Québec pay for more power while developing new projects with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro along the Churchill River. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro president Jennifer Williams agreed the proposed projects need to proceed smoothly and quickly, repeating 'rigour and speed are not incompatible.'
Montreal Gazette
30-05-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
T.M.R. businesses say they're taking financial hit as Hydro-Québec project limits access
By Amit Bachar has already lost about $50,000 in revenue for the month of May after construction took over the area where his car wash is located in the Town of Mount Royal. The owner of Details Car Wash said his income has been slashed by nearly half since a Hydro‑Québec project began this spring. The detours and heavy traffic have made it much harder for customers to access his services located on busy Jean-Talon St. and accessible by Lucerne Rd. 'It makes me very sad, very stressed, and it's affecting my life financially and mentally,' Bachar said in an interview Friday afternoon with The Gazette. 'And I feel like they just don't care about us. And it's not fair.' Details Car Wash has been around for nearly 50 years, and Bachar has been running it for 18 years. He said he employs about 20 people, but with fewer cars coming in because of ongoing road closures and detours, he's trying to find ways to keep afloat. One worker has already quit. The Hydro‑Québec project to build an underground transmission line began in late April, but Bachar said he only found out about two weeks before it started. One of his workers was given a verbal notice, he said. Jean-Talon St. was blocked off in front of his business but reopened this week so cars can now more easily exit the car wash. But Lucerne Rd., which is used to access the entrance of the car wash, is down to one lane. It comes during Details Car Wash's busiest time of year, he added. 'The time is so hard already for small businesses. Believe me, there is not a lot of money here,' Bachar said. 'Business down 80 per cent at District Bagel' Other merchants are also feeling squeezed. Shulem Greenwald, owner of District Bagel, said he has lost about 80 per cent of his business in the last week after construction picked up in front of his entrance on Lucerne Rd. He estimated the project has cost him thousands of dollars, noting only a handful of customers popped by for lunch. The detour to access District Bagel is long, he added. 'When you Google it at night, it takes seven extra minutes. But during the day and it's busy in traffic and to detour — probably if somebody wants to come, grab a sandwich or bagel or anything — they'll have to spend an extra 25 minutes just to get to my place,' Greenwald said. Bachar said he understands the necessity of infrastructure projects, but Hydro‑Québec hasn't gone far enough to help. In an email to Bachar this week, a Hydro‑Québec employee pointed to a number of mitigation measures, including signage for local detours and police on site to ease traffic. 'We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please know that we are within our rights to carry out our work,' the email reads. In an email to The Gazette, Hydro‑Québec described the construction of an underground transmission line to connect two substations as a 'major work.' 'This work will improve the quality of service in a context of increased demand at the Mont-Royal substation,' it wrote, adding the project will be fully completed by the end of summer. It said that mitigation measures were communicated to merchants beforehand and it remains in 'constant contact with the affected businesses.' It also noted work was sped up to free an area near those companies. 'We plan to finish our excavation and paving work on June 6 in this specific area, in order to free up access to the businesses at the corner of Lucerne and Jean-Talon,' Hydro‑Québec said. The end of work can't come soon enough for Bachar, who said he would consider a line of credit against his house or borrow money to keep Details Car Wash open, if needed. 'We work very, very hard,' he said. This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 5:42 PM.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In New England, Canadian hydropower has slowed to an ominous trickle
On March 6, at the start of the still-simmering trade war between the U.S. and Canada, hydropower generator Hydro‑Québec quietly stopped exporting electricity to New England. At a time of year when Canadian hydropower typically supplies up to a tenth of New England's power, the region has instead gone almost a month with virtually no cross-border flow of electrons. Hydro‑Québec leaders say low prices in the New England market — not politics — are behind the decision to suspend sales. The disruption hasn't affected power costs or reliability in the region yet, but some experts say it could if the cutoff extends into the summer cooling season. The situation also highlights a potential risk to state clean energy plans that count on Canadian hydropower to help offset fossil fuels. 'This shows the potential for the region to be vulnerable to manipulations of the supply,' said Phelps Turner, director of clean grid for the Conservation Law Foundation. Hydro‑Québec's main transmission line into New England, known as the Phase II line, stopped exporting any meaningful amount of power two days after President Donald Trump's tariff on Canadian imports went into effect. Last March, by comparison, anywhere from a few hundred megawatts to more than 1,200 MW flowed along the line at any given time, making up between 5% and 10% of the region's electricity use on average, Turner estimated. The longer that New England needs to replace the absent hydropower, the more often it will call on natural gas or oil power plants to fill the gap with dirtier and more expensive electricity, particularly as demand increases in the summer and again next winter. 'Electrically, this is pretty much the most boring time of year, and certainly a much easier time of year to have a source go away or be on pause here,' said Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association. 'There is going to be both a cost and environmental consequence if we see this be a really durable situation.' In an email from a company spokesperson, Hydro‑Québec attributed its lack of exports to market conditions, saying milder spring weather has lowered demand and thus prices. Others have theorized the move is also a show of power aimed at the Trump administration. Hydro‑Québec has been sending signals for a while that it might be moving away from delivering power to New England at its historic levels. Last year, 5,560 gigawatt-hours of power traveled into the region over the Phase II line, less than half the amount exported in 2022. And in the last two forward capacity auctions run by grid operator ISO New England, Hydro‑Québec did not take on any obligation to provide power for 20 of the 24 months covered. This pullback is likely due, at least in part, to ongoing abnormally dry and drought conditions in much of Quebec, which mean less water flow to power the company's generators. Hydro-Québec, therefore, faces choices about what to do with the power it can generate, whether that means holding out for higher prices on the New England market or selling it domestically to meet the province's own growing demand as it too electrifies in pursuit of climate goals. 'Hydro-Québec is proactively managing its energy reserves in the context of low runoff and, as such, will continue to limit its exports as it did in 2024,' said company spokesperson Lynn St-Laurent. The lack of exports from Hydro-Québec coupled with the specter of fluctuating tariffs and counter-tariffs brings into focus the need for the New England grid to develop more stateside power resources and expand the infrastructure required to get energy where it's needed, experts said. 'We're going to need all the supply we can find, and part of that is going to come from Canadian hydro,' said Jeremy McDiarmid, managing director and general counsel at clean energy industry association Advanced Energy United. 'We also need to be building things: We need to build transmission lines. We need to build new generation.' Some are also concerned that ISO New England is not properly accounting for the declines in Canadian hydro supply. The grid operator's planning process still uses the assumption that neighboring regions — mostly Quebec, Dolan said — will be willing and able to send 2,000 MW into New England at moments of exceptionally high demand, an expectation Dolan said 'doesn't strike me as responsible or appropriate reliability planning,' given the trend in the Canadian firm's exports. The situation has also raised questions about the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line, a 145-mile project designed to import 1,200 MW of Hydro-Québec power into New England as part of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Massachusetts utilities. The line is expected to be operational starting in 2026, and a Hydro-Québec spokesperson said the company plans to deliver the power promised. Recent circumstances, however, have those in the industry combing over the contracts to determine how solid Hydro-Québec's commitment to deliver that power actually is and how tariffs might affect the terms of the deal. One promising sign, they said: The company is still sending electricity into the U.S. over a second, smaller transmission line that ends in Vermont, which has an agreement to buy power from Hydro-Québec until 2038. 'That does seem to suggest that [Hydro-Québec] is performing under existing contracts,' Turner said. 'But every contract in every situation is different.' In the meantime, the region will just have to wait and see what Hydro-Québec does next, without much information to go on. 'It's hard to say what's motivating the decision' to cut power flow, Turner said. 'We just know it's happening, but we don't know why it's happening.'
