Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian
Crown corporation
Crown corporation ()
is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government.
Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...
public utility
A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
headquartered in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Quebec. It manages the
generation
A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...
,
transmission
Transmission or transmit may refer to:
Science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual tra ...
and
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
*Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
of
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
in Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the
Northeast United States. More than 40 percent of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
’s water resources are in Quebec and Hydro-Québec is among the largest hydropower producer in the world.
It was established as a Crown corporation by the
government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...
in 1944 from the expropriation of private firms. This was followed by massive investment in hydro-electric projects like the
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project () involves the construction of a series of hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by government-owned corporation, state-owned public utility, utility Hydro-Qué ...
. Today, with 63
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
s, the combined output capacity is 37,370 megawatts. Extra power is exported from the province and Hydro-Québec supplies 10 per cent of
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
's power requirements.
The company logo, a stylized "Q" fashioned out of a circle and a lightning bolt, was designed by
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
-based design agency Gagnon/Valkus in 1960.
In 2023, it paid 2.47 billion in
dividend
A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...
s to its sole
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
, the Government of Quebec. Its residential power rates are among the lowest in North America.
History
1945–1959: beginnings and development
In
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, advocates for the creation of a public hydroelectric utility protested against high costs, poor
rural electrification
Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2019, 770 million ...
, and the lack of French speakers in management positions in hydroelectricity companies.
In 1944,
Montreal Light, Heat & Power
The Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company (MLH&P) was a utility company operating the electric and gas distribution monopoly in the area of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, until its nationalization by the government of Quebec in 1944, under a law crea ...
company was nationalised, along with its subsidiary, Beauharnois Power, and Hydro-Québec was created to manage the companies.
Quebec Premier
Adélard Godbout
Joseph-Adélard Godbout (September 24, 1892 – September 18, 1956) was a Canadian agronomist and politician. He served as the 15th premier of Quebec briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944, in addition to serving as the leader of the Part ...
adopted a policy of investing 10 million dollars per year in rural electrification.
However, in 1944 the government changed, and the new premier
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...
was opposed to any form of government intervention in the economy. Local cooperatives were created to bring power to rural areas.
Duplessis remained in power until 1960, and during that time there were no further nationalisations of companies, and Hydro-Québec mostly served the
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
area.
Major projects included:
*
Bersimis-1 generating station completed in 1956, 1,125 MW
*
Bersimis-2 generating station
The Bersimis-2 generating station is a dam and a Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity, run-of-the-river hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power station built by Hydro-Québec on the Betsiamites River, in Lac-au-Brochet, Quebec, Lac-au-Brochet, north o ...
completed in 1959, 845 MW
*
Beauharnois Hydroelectric Generating Station completed in 1961, 1,903 MW.
*
Carillon Generating Station
The Carillon generating station (in French: ''centrale de Carillon'') is a hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power station on the Ottawa River near Carillon, Quebec, Carillon, Quebec, Canada. Built between 1959 and 1964, it is managed and operated ...
built 1959–1964, 752 MW
Between 1944 and 1962, Hydro-Québec's installed capacity increased from 616 to 3,661 MW while lowering residential power rates by half in the
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
area.
1960–1979: the second nationalization
Duplessis's conservative reign, now known as the
Grande Noirceur, ended when he died in office in 1959. The subsequent election of the
Quebec Liberal Party
The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955.
The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...
, led by
Jean Lesage
Jean Lesage (; June 10, 1912 – December 12, 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from July 5, 1960, to June 16, 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is often v ...
, marked the beginning of the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...
, a period of reform and modernization. In 1962, the US government lent Quebec $300 million. The funds were used to acquire independent power companies.
The new government gave Hydro-Québec an exclusive mandate to develop new sites. In 1963 the government authorized it to acquire private electricity distributors, including the
Gatineau Power Company and the
Shawinigan Water & Power Company
Established in 1898, the Shawinigan Water & Power Company was one of the dominant, privately owned Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric companies in Canada until 1963, when it became a part of Hydro-Québec.
History
Shawinigan Water & Power Company ...
Hydro-Québec achieved province-wide scope. All of the 46 rural coops accepted Hydro-Québec's 1963 buyout offer, except Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rouville which still exists. In 1964, the Province of British Columbia provided the Province of Quebec with a $100 million loan. $60 million from that loan went to Hydro-Québec. The loan faced controversy in the Quebec legislature.
Major projects during this period included:
* Manicougan-Outardes Project, a 7-dam hydroelectric complex including the
Jean-Lesage generating station (1,145 MW),
René-Lévesque generating station (1,244 MW), and the
Daniel-Johnson Dam (2,596 MW), originally named Manic-2, Manic-3, and Manic-5 respectively. Because these stations were 700 kilometres (400 miles) away from the urban centres in southern
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, through transmission line voltage was stepped up to for the first time anywhere, led by engineer
Jean-Jacques Archambault.
*
Churchill Falls Generating Station
The Churchill Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric underground power station in Labrador. At 5,428 MW, it is the sixteenth largest in the world, and the second-largest in Canada, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station in northw ...
, 5,428 MW. The station is in
Labrador
Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
and the
government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...
negotiated a contract where Hydro-Québec buys power from the project at 1969 prices until the year 2041. That contract had been a source of conflict between the two provinces.In December 2024, Newfoundland premier
Andrew Furey and Quebec premier
François Legault
François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A founding member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since it began in 2011. Legault sits as a Nationa ...
signed a 50-year
Memorandum of understanding that terminated the original contract in 2025. If ratified by both provinces, the rates Hydro-Quebec pays for Churchill Falls electricity would rise by 2,850%.
* Phase I of the
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project () involves the construction of a series of hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by government-owned corporation, state-owned public utility, utility Hydro-Qué ...
.
* Hydro-Québec worked with
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL, Énergie atomique du Canada limitée, EACL) is a Canadian Crown corporation and the largest nuclear science and technology laboratory in Canada. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in th ...
to build the
CANDU reactor
The CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) moderator and its use of (originally, natural) uranium fuel. CA ...
equipped
Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station, which closed in 2012.
1980–1996: restructuring
Because of the economic climate, demand for electricity dropped significantly in the early 1980s, which led to structural changes at Hydro-Québec. It became a
joint stock company
A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...
whose sole shareholder is
Government of Québec
The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...
, to which it pays an annual dividend. It was also given the mandate to export power and to work in any energy-related field.
In 1986 the
Quebec – New England Transmission began bringing power from the
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project () involves the construction of a series of hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by government-owned corporation, state-owned public utility, utility Hydro-Qué ...
1,100 kilometers (700 miles) south to the Boston area.
Phase II of the
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project () involves the construction of a series of hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by government-owned corporation, state-owned public utility, utility Hydro-Qué ...
started in 1987 and took nine years to complete. Construction of the
Denis-Perron Dam began in 1994.
1997–present: renewed growth
Like its counterparts in the North American utility industry, Hydro-Québec was reorganized in the late 1990s to comply with electricity
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
in the United States. The transmission division,
TransÉnergie, was the first to be spun off in 1997, in response to the U.S.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport ...
's publication of Order 888. In the same year, the U.S.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport ...
granted Hydro-Québec a licence to sell wholesale electricity at market prices, enabling Hydro-Québec to expand its market. Hydro-Québec also acquired a substantial share of
Noverco, controller of natural gas distributor
Énergir, to participate in that market in northeastern North America.

In 2002 the
between the
Grand Council of the Crees
The Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) or the GCC(EI) (ᐄᔨᔨᐤ ᐊᔅᒌ in Cree), is the political body that represents the approximately 20,000 Cree people (who call themselves "Eeyou" or "Eenou" in the various dialects of East ...
and the Quebec government made possible the development of the
Eastmain Reservoir
The Eastmain Reservoir is a reservoir which lies about 800 kilometres north of Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipal ...
. The
Eastmain-1-A and
Sarcelle powerhouses and
Rupert River
The Rupert River is a river in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Quebec, it flows west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of .
There is some extremely large whitewater on ...
diversion project were completed for $5,000 million CAD. This will provide water power to the turbines at
Eastmain-1,
Eastmain-1-A and
Sarcelle powerhouses and will provide increased flow at the existing
La Grande-1 generating station as well as
Robert-Bourassa and the
La Grande-2-A generator stations. Output will be 918 MW.
Other stations commissioned since 1997 are:
*
Sainte-Marguerite-3 in 2003, 882 MW.
*
Péribonka
Péribonka is a municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, located in the Maria-Chapdelaine Regional County Municipality. It is situated at the mouth of the Peribonka River where it forms a bay on the no ...
in 2008, 385 MW.
*
Rocher-de-Grand-Mère in 2004, 230 MW.
*
Eastmain-1in 2007, 480 MW
*
Rapide-des-Cœurs in 2009, 76 MW.
*
Chute-Allard in 2009, 62 MW
*
Mercier in 2009, 55 MW.
*
Bernard-Landry in 2012, 768 MW
*
La Sarcelle in 2013, 150 MW.
*
Romaine-2 in 2014, 640 MW.
*
Romaine-1 in 2015, 270 MW.
*
Romaine-3 in 2017, 395 MW.
*
Romaine-4 in 2022, 245 MW.
Major outages

In 1988, all of Quebec and parts of
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
and
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
lost power because of an equipment failure at a substation on the
North Shore. The
March 1989 geomagnetic storm tripped
circuit breaker
A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an Electrical network, electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which the equipment can safely carry (overcurrent). Its basic function is to interr ...
s on the transmission network causing a nine-hour Quebec-wide blackout.
In the
North American ice storm of 1998, five days of
freezing rain
Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below melting point, freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike rain and snow mixed, a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made en ...
collapsed of
high voltage
High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...
power lines and over of medium and
low voltage
In electrical engineering, low voltage is a relative term, the definition varying by context. Different definitions are used in electric power transmission and distribution, compared with electronics design. Electrical safety codes define "low vo ...
distribution lines in southern Quebec. Up to 1.4 million customers were without power for up to five weeks.
Corporate structure and financial results
Corporate structure
Hydro-Québec has created separate
business unit
A strategic business unit (SBU) in business strategic management, is a profit center which focuses on product offering and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition, and marketing campaign, even thoug ...
s dealing with the
generation
A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...
,
transmission
Transmission or transmit may refer to:
Science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual tra ...
,
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
*Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
and construction. In 2017, production division generated 1.9B $ of net income (68.4%), transmission division 0.55B$ (19.4%), distribution division 0.33B $ (11.7%), and construction division did not generate any income. Hydro-Quebec redistributes all profits back to the government. In 2017, the crown corporation contributed $4 billion to the Quebec government by means of net income ($2.8B), royalties ($0.7B), public utilities tax ($0.3B) and debt securities ($0.2B).
In the year 2000 with the adoption of Bill 116, which amended the ''Act respecting the Régie de l'énergie'', to enact the functional separation of Hydro-Québec's various business units. Legislation passed in 2000 commits the generation division, Hydro-Québec Production, to provide the distribution division, Hydro-Québec Distribution, a yearly ''heritage pool'' of up to 165 TWh of energy plus ancillary services—including an extra 13.9 TWh for losses and a guaranteed peak capacity of 34,342 MW—at a set price of 2.79¢ per kWh. Order in council 1277-2001 specifies quantities to be delivered for each of the 8,760 hourly intervals, which vary from 11,420 to 34,342 MW.
According to the 2017 annual report the workforce stood at 19,786 employees, both permanent and temporary workers. And, a total of 1,304 employees were hired.
Privatization debate
In 1981, the
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...
government redefined Hydro-Québec's mission by modifying the terms of the ''social pact'' of 1944. The government issued itself 43,741,090 shares worth C$100 each, and the amended statute stated that Hydro-Québec would now pay up to 75% of its net earnings in dividends. This amendment to the ''Hydro-Québec Act'' started an episodic debate on whether Hydro-Québec should be fully or partially privatized. In recent years, economist Marcel Boyer and businessman Claude Garcia—both associated with the
conservative think tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
''The Montreal Economic Institute''—have often raised the issue, claiming that the company could be better managed by the private sector and that the proceeds from a sale would lower
public debt
A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occu ...
.
Without going as far as Boyer and Garcia,
Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 2 ...
, the head of the
Action démocratique du Québec
The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...
, briefly discussed the possibility of selling a minority stake of Hydro-Québec during the
2008 election campaign. A
Léger Marketing poll conducted in November 2008 found that a majority of Quebec respondents (53%) were opposed to his proposal to sell 7.5% of the company's
equity to Quebec citizens and businesses, while 38% were in favour.
Commenting on the issue on
Guy A. Lepage's
talk show
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
, former PQ Premier Jacques Parizeau estimated that such an idea would be quite unpopular in public opinion, adding that Hydro-Québec is often seen by Quebecers as a national success story and a source of pride. This could explain why various privatization proposals in the past have received little public attention. The liberal government has repeatedly stated that Hydro-Québec is not for sale.
Like many other economists, Yvan Allaire, from
Montreal's Hautes études commerciales business school, advocate increased electricity rates as a way to increase the government's annual dividend without resorting to privatization. Others, like columnist Bertrand Tremblay of
Saguenay's ''
Le Quotidien'', claim that privatization would signal a drift to the days when Quebec's natural resources were sold in bulk to foreigners at ridiculously low prices. "For too long, Tremblay writes, Quebec was somewhat of a banana republic, almost giving away its forestry and water resources. In turn, those foreign interests were exporting our jobs associated with the development of our natural resources with the complicity of local vultures".
Left-wing academics, such as
UQAM's Léo-Paul Lauzon and Gabriel Sainte-Marie, have claimed that privatization would be done at the expense of residential customers, who would pay much higher rates. They say that privatization would also be a betrayal of the social pact between the people and its government, and that the province would be short-selling itself by divesting of a choice asset for a minimal short term gain.
Activities
Power generation
On December 31, 2013, Hydro-Québec Production owned and operated 61
hydro
Hydro (from ) may refer to:
Energy technologies
* Water-derived power or energy:
** Hydropower, derived from water
** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form
* "Hydro", AC mains electricity in parts of Canada
* Micro hydro, a type of hydroelect ...
plants —including 12 of over 1,000 MW capacity — with 26 major reservoirs. These facilities are located in 13 of Quebec's 430
watersheds, including the
Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians that the Roman Empire, Rom ...
,
Betsiamites,
La Grande,
Manicouagan,
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
,
Outardes, and
Saint-Maurice rivers. These plants provide the bulk of electricity generated and sold by the company.
Non-hydro plants included the
baseload
The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants or dispatchable generation, depending on which approach has the best mi ...
675-MW gross
Gentilly nuclear generating station, a
CANDU-design reactor which was permanently shut down on December 28, 2012
the 660-MW
Tracy Thermal Generating Station
The Tracy Thermal Generating Station is a retired 660-megawatt heavy fuel oil-fueled thermal power station built from 1962 by the Shawinigan Water & Power Company and completed by Hydro-Québec after the History of Hydro-Québec#1963: Second st ...
, a heavy fuel oil-fired plant shutdown in March 2011 and two
gas turbine
A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...
peaker plants, for a total installed capacity of 36,971 MW in 2011. Hydro-Québec's average generation cost was 2.11 cents per kWh in 2011.
The company also purchases the bulk of the output of the 5,428-MW
Churchill Falls generating station
The Churchill Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric underground power station in Labrador. At 5,428 MW, it is the sixteenth largest in the world, and the second-largest in Canada, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station in northw ...
in Labrador, under a long-term contract expiring in 2025. In 2009, Hydro-Québec bought the 60% stake owned by
AbitibiBowater in the
McCormick plant (335 MW), located at the mouth of the Manicouagan River near
Baie-Comeau
Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...
, for C$616 million.
In 2023, the energy sold by Hydro-Québec to its grid-connected customers in Quebec and exported to neighboring markets came almost exclusively from renewable sources. Hydro (98.53%) is by far the largest source, followed by wind (0.11%) and biomass,
biogas
Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...
and waste (0.01%).
In 2013, emissions of carbon dioxide (1,130 tonnes/TWh),
sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
(4 tonnes/TWh) and
nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds:
Charge-neutral
*Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide
* Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide
* Nitrogen trioxide (), o ...
s (10 tonnes/TWh) were between 49 and 238 times lower than the industry average in northeastern North America. Imported electricity bought on the markets account for most of these emissions.
Transmission system

Hydro-Québec's expertise at building and operating a very high voltage electrical grid spreading over long distances has long been recognized in the electrical industry.
TransÉnergie, Hydro-Québec's transmission division, operates the largest electricity transmission network in North America. It acts as the independent system operator and reliability coordinator for the
Québec interconnection of the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is a nonprofit corporation based in Atlanta, Georgia, and formed on March 28, 2006, as the successor to the North American Electric Reliability Council (also known as NERC). The original ...
system, and is part of the
Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC). TransÉnergie manages the flow of energy on the Quebec network and ensures non-discriminatory access to all participants involved in the wholesale market.
The non-discriminatory access policy allows a company such as
Nalcor
Nalcor Energy was an energy corporation headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. A provincial Crown corporation under the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nalcor Energy was created in 2 ...
to sell some of its share of power from Churchill Falls on the open market in the State of New York using TransÉnergie's network, upon payment of a transmission fee.
In recent years, TransÉnergie's ''Contrôle des mouvements d'énergie'' (CMÉ) unit has been acting as the reliability coordinator of the bulk electricity network for Quebec as a whole, under a bilateral agreement between the Régie de l'énergie du Québec and the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport ...
of the United States.
TransÉnergie's high voltage network stretches over , including of , and a network of 514 substations. It is connected to neighbouring Canadian provinces and the United States by 17 ties, with a maximum reception capacity of 10,850 MW
[This number includes the 5,200-MW Churchill Falls lines, which have no export capability.] and a maximum transmission capacity of 7,994 MW.
Interconnections

The TransÉnergie's network operates asynchronously from that of its neighbours on the
Eastern Interconnection
The Eastern Interconnection is one of the two major alternating current, alternating-current (AC) electrical grids in the North American power transmission grid. The other major wide area synchronous grid, interconnection is the Western Inter ...
. Although Quebec uses the same 60
hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...
frequency as the rest of North America, its grid does not use the same phase as surrounding networks.
TransÉnergie mainly relies on
back to back HVDC converters to export or import electricity from other jurisdictions.
This feature of the Quebec network allowed Hydro-Québec to remain unscathed during the
Northeast Blackout of August 14, 2003, with the exception of 5 hydro plants on the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...
radially connected to the Ontario grid at the time. A new 1250-MW back to back HVDC tie has been commissioned at the Outaouais substation, in
L'Ange-Gardien, near the
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
border. The new interconnection has been online since 2009 and the 315 kV line is fully operational since 2010.
One drawback of the TransÉnergie network involves the long distances separating the generation sites and the main consumer markets. For instance, the
Radisson substation links the James Bay project plants to the Nicolet station near
Sainte-Eulalie, south of the Saint Lawrence, over away.
Investments
In 2011, TransÉnergie invested C$1.3 billion in capital expenditures, including C$460 million to expand its network.
In addition to the new tie with Ontario, the company plans to build a new 1200-MW direct current link between the Des Cantons substation at
Windsor, Quebec in Quebec's
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...
and
Deerfield, New Hampshire
Deerfield is a New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,855 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 4,280 in 2010 United States census, 2010. Deerfield is the location of the a ...
, with an HVDC converter terminal built at
Franklin, New Hampshire. The US segment of the US$1.1 billion line, would be built by ''Northern Pass Transmission LLC'', a partnership between
Northeast Utilities (75%) and
NSTAR (25%). In order to go ahead, the project must receive regulatory approval in Quebec and the United States. The proposed transmission line could be in operation in 2015. According to Jim Robb, a senior executive from Northeast Utilities,
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
could meet one third of its
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie") is the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, ...
commitments with the hydropower coming through this new power line alone.
Distribution
Hydro-Québec Distribution is in charge of retail sales to most customers in Quebec. It operates a network of of medium and
low voltage
In electrical engineering, low voltage is a relative term, the definition varying by context. Different definitions are used in electric power transmission and distribution, compared with electronics design. Electrical safety codes define "low vo ...
lines. The division is the sole electric distributor across the province, with the exception of 9 municipal distribution networks — in
Alma
Alma or ALMA may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film
* ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter
* ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922
* ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017
* ''Alma'' ( ...
,
Amos
Amos or AMOS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray
* Amos (band), an American Christian rock band
* ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film
* Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...
,
Baie-Comeau
Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...
,
Coaticook
Coaticook ( , ) is a town on the Coaticook River, located in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It resides in the region of Estrie, which is often referred to colloquially as the Eastern Townships.
It is the seat of the Coaticook Regional County Mu ...
,
Joliette
Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...
,
Magog,
Saguenay,
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
and
Westmount
Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...
—and the electric cooperative of
Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Rouville.
Hydro-Québec Distribution buys most of its power from the 165-TWh ''heritage pool'' provided by Hydro-Québec Production at 2.79¢/
kWh. The division usually purchases additional power by entering into long-term contracts after a public call for tenders. For shorter term needs, it also buys power from the neighboring systems at market prices. As a last resort, Hydro-Québec Production can also provide short-term relief.
Supply contracts above and beyond the heritage pool must be approved by the ''Régie de l'énergie du Québec'' and their costs are passed on to customers.
The division signed one
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
cogeneration
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
agreement for 507 MW in 2003, three forest biomass deals (47.5 MW) in 2004 and 2005, and ten contracts for
wind power
Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...
(2,994 MW) in 2005 and 2008, all with private sector producers. It also signed two flexible contracts with Hydro-Québec Production (600 MW) in 2002.
Hydro-Québec Distribution is also responsible for the production of power in remote communities not connected to the main power grid. The division operates an off-grid hydroelectric dam serving communities on the
Lower North Shore and 23 small diesel power plants in the
Magdalen Islands
The Magdalen Islands (, ) are a Canadian archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Since 2005, the 12-island archipelago is divided into two municipalities: the majority-francophone Municipality of Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the majority-angloph ...
, in
Haute-Mauricie and in
Nunavik
Nunavik (; ; ) is an area in Canada which comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, part of the Nord-du-Québec region and nearly coterminous with Kativik. Covering a land area of north of the 55th parallel, it is the homelan ...
.
Other activities
Electric Circuit network

In April 2011 the
government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...
published a plan to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, setting a target of 25% of cars sold in 2020 to be electric. The plan also called for provincial utility company Hydro-Quebec to develop a strategy for the deployment of public charging infrastructure. This resulted in the creation of "The Electric Circuit" (), the largest public network of
charging stations
A charging station, also known as a charge point, chargepoint, or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a power supply device that supplies electrical power for recharging plug-in electric vehicles (including battery electric vehicle ...
for
electric vehicles
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
in
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. The first 30 charging stations were put into use in March 2012. The network's first 400V fast charger was installed in 2013.
As of 2023, The Electric Circuit offers almost 3,500 public charging stations in Quebec and
eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,892,332 in 2021) () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawr ...
.
Usage is also compatible with the FLO and
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
E-charge network adaptors.
Research and development

Hydro-Québec has made significant investments in research and development over the past 40 years. In addition to funding university research, the company is the only electric utility in North America to operate its own large-scale research institute, L'
Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Québec (IREQ). Established by
Lionel Boulet in 1967, the research centre is located in
Varennes, a suburb on the
South Shore of
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
.
IREQ operates on an annual research budget of approximately C$100 million and specializes in the areas of high voltage,
mechanics
Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...
and thermomechanics, network simulations and calibration.
Research conducted by scientists and engineers at IREQ has helped to extend the life of dams, improve
water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
performance, automate network management and increase the transmission capacity of high voltage power lines.
Another research centre, the ''Laboratoire des technologies de l'énergie'' (LTE) in Shawinigan, was opened in 1988
to adapt and develop new products while helping industrial customers improve their
energy efficiency.
In the last 20 years, the institute has also conducted
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
work towards the
electrification of ground transportation. Current projects include
battery materials, including innovative work on
lithium iron phosphate
Lithium iron phosphate or lithium ferro-phosphate (LFP) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a gray, red-grey, brown or black solid that is insoluble in water. The material has attracted attention as a component of lithium iron phosp ...
and nano-titanate, improved electric
drive train
A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) or transmission system, is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drive ...
s and the effects of the large-scale deployment of electric vehicles on the
power grid
''Power Grid'' is the English-language version of the second edition of the multiplayer German-style board game ''Funkenschlag'', designed by Friedemann Friese and first released in 2004. ''Power Grid'' was released by Rio Grande Games.
I ...
. Projects focus on technologies to increase
range
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
, improve performance in cold weather and reduce
charging time.
Hydro-Québec has been criticized for not having taken advantage of some of its innovations. An electric wheel motor concept that struck a chord with Quebecers, first prototyped in 1994 by Pierre Couture, an engineer and physicist working at IREQ, is one of these. The heir to the Couture wheel motor is now marketed by TM4 Electrodynamic Systems, a spin-off established in 1998 that has made deals with France's Dassault and Heuliez to develop an electric car, the Cleanova, of which prototypes were built in 2006. Hydro-Québec announced in early 2009 at the Montreal International Auto Show that its engine had been chosen by Tata Motors to equip a demonstration version of its Tata Indica, Indica model, which will be road tested in Norway.
Construction
The Hydro-Québec Équipement division acts as the company's main contractor on major construction sites, with the exception of work conducted on the territory covered by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, which are assigned to the James Bay Energy, Société d'énergie de la Baie James subsidiary.
The construction of a complex of four hydroelectric generating stations on the Romaine River () began on May 13, 2009. The plants have been completed as of 2022 and have added a total of 1 550 MW of power.
In his March 2009 Throne speech, inaugural speech, Quebec Premier Jean Charest announced that his government intends to further develop the province's hydroelectric potential. The call for further development of hydroelectric and other renewable generating capacity has been implemented in the company's 2009-2013 strategic plan, released on July 30, 2009. Hydro-Québec plans capacity upgrades at the Jean-Lesage generating station, Jean-Lesage (120 MW) and René-Lévesque generating station, René-Lévesque (210 MW) stations and a third unit at the SM-3 plant (440 MW). The company will also conduct technical and environmental studies and undertake consultations with local communities to build new facilities on the Little Mecatina River, Little Mecatina (1,200 MW) and Magpie River (Quebec), Magpie (850 MW) rivers on the North Shore, and revive the Tabaret project (132 MW) in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, in western Quebec.
International ventures
Hydro-Québec first forays outside its borders began in 1978. A new subsidiary, Hydro-Québec International, was created to market the company's know-how abroad in the fields of distribution, generation and transmission of electricity. The new venture leveraged the existing pool of expertise in the parent company.
During the next 25 years, Hydro-Québec was particularly active abroad with investments in electricity transmission networks and generation: Transelec in Chile, the Cross Sound Cable in the United States,
the Consorcio Transmantaro in Peru, Hidroelectrica Rio Lajas in Costa Rica, Murraylink in Australia and the Fortuna Dam, Fortuna generating station in Panama.
It briefly held a 17% share in SENELEC, Senegal's electric utility, when the Senegalese government decided to sell part of the company to a consortium led by the French company Elyo, a subsidiary of Suez (company, 1997–2008), Group Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, in 1999.
The transaction was canceled in 2000 following the election of president Abdoulaye Wade.
Also in 1999, Hydro-Québec International acquired a 20% stake in the Meiya Power Company in People's Republic of China, China for C$83 million.
The company held this participation until July 2004. The company's expertise was sought by several hydroelectric developers throughout the world, including the Three Gorges Dam, where Hydro's employees trained Chinese engineers in the fields of management, finance and dams.
Hydro-Québec gradually withdrew from the international business between 2003 and 2006, and sold off all of its foreign investments for a profit. Proceeds from these sales were paid to the government's Generations Fund, a trust fund set up by the province to alleviate the effect of public debt on future generations.
In 2022, Hydro-Québec, through its US Subsidiary HQI US Holding, acquired Great River Hydro, LLC. for the sum of US$2.2 billion.
Environment

The construction and operation of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities has environmental effects and Hydro-Québec's activities are no exception. Hydroelectric development affects the natural environment where facilities are built and on the people living in the area. For instance, the development of new reservoirs increases the level of mercury in lakes and rivers, which works up the food chain.
It temporarily increases the emission of greenhouse gases from reservoirs
and contributes to shoreline erosion.
In addition, hydroelectric facilities transform the human environment. They create new obstacles to navigation, flood traditional hunting and trapping grounds, force people to change their eating habits due to the elevated mercury content of some species of fish, destroy invaluable artifacts that would help trace the human presence on the territory, and disrupt the society and culture of Aboriginal people living near the facilities.
Since the early 1970s, Hydro-Québec has been aware of the environmental externalities of its operations. The adoption of a Quebec statute on environmental quality in 1972, the cancellation of Champigny Project, a planned pumped storage plant in the Jacques-Cartier River valley in 1973, and the James Bay negotiations leading to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975, forced the company to reconsider its practices.
To address environmental concerns, Hydro-Québec established an environmental protection committee in 1970 and an Environmental Management unit in September 1973. Its mandate is to study and measure the environmental effects of the company, prepare impact assessment, and develop mitigation strategies for new and existing facilities, while conducting research projects in these areas, in cooperation with the scientific community.
Effects on the natural environment
In the late 1970s, the company set up a network of 27 monitoring stations to measure the effects of the James Bay Project which provide a wealth of data on northern environments. The first 30 years of studies in the James Bay area have confirmed that mercury levels in fish increase by 3 to 6 times over the first 5 to 10 years after the flooding of a reservoir, but then gradually revert to their initial values after 20 to 30 years. These results confirm similar studies conducted elsewhere in Canada, the United States and Finland. Research also found that it is possible to reduce human exposure to mercury even when fish constitutes a significant part of a population's diet. Exposure risks can be mitigated without overly reducing the consumption of fish, simply by avoiding certain species and fishing spots.
Despite the fact that the transformation of a terrestrial environment into an aquatic environment constitutes a major change and that flooding leads to the displacement or death of nonmigratory animals, the riparian environments lost through flooding are partially replaced by new ones on the exposed banks of reduced-flow rivers. The biological diversity of reservoir islands is comparable to other islands in the area and the reservoir drawdown (hydrology), drawdown zone is used by a variety of wildlife. The population of migratory species of interest such as the caribou have even increased to the point where the hunt has been expanded.
Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) rise significantly for a few years after reservoir impoundment, and then stabilize after 10 years to a level similar to that of surrounding lakes.
Gross GHG emissions of reservoirs in the James Bay area fluctuate around 30,000 tonnes of CO
2 equivalent per TWh of generated power. Hydro-Québec claims its hydroelectric plants release 35 times less GHG than comparable gas-fired plants and 70 times less than coal-fired ones and that they constitute the "option with the best performance" overall.
Social effects and sustainable development

Another major environmental concern relates to the population of areas affected by hydroelectric development, specifically the Innu of the North Shore and the Cree and Inuit in Northern Quebec. The hydroelectric developments of the last quarter of the 20th century have accelerated the settling process among Aboriginal populations that started in the 1950s. Among the reasons cited for the increased adoption of a sedentary lifestyle among these peoples are the establishment of Aboriginal businesses, the introduction of paid labor, and the flooding of traditional trapping and fishing lands by the new reservoirs, along with the operation of social and education services run by the communities themselves under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
Some native communities, particularly the Crees, have come to a point "where they increasingly resemble the industrialized society of the South", notes a Hydro-Québec report summarizing the research conducted in the area between 1970 and 2000. The report adds that a similar phenomenon was observed after the construction of roads and hydroelectric plants near isolated communities in northern Canada and Scandinavia. However, growing social problems and rising unemployment have followed the end of the large construction projects in the 1990s. The report concludes that future economic and social development in the area "will largely depend on the desire for cooperation among the various players".
After the strong rejection of the Suroît project and its subsequent cancellation in November 2004, Hydro-Québec, under the leadership of its new CEO Thierry Vandal, reaffirmed Hydro-Québec's commitment towards energy efficiency, hydropower and development of alternative energy. Since then, Hydro-Québec regularly stresses three criteria for any new hydroelectric development undertaken by the company: projects must be cost effective, environmentally acceptable and well received by the communities.
Hydro-Québec has also taken part in a series of sustainable development initiatives since the late 1980s. Its approach is based on three principles: economic development, social development and environmental protection. Since 2007 the company adheres to the Global Reporting Initiative, which governs the collection and publication of sustainability performance information. The company employs 250 professionals and managers in the environmental field and has implemented an ISO 14000, ISO 14001-certified environmental management system.
Additionally, the Innu, Innu Nation filed a $4 billion claim against Hydro-Québec in October 2020 to receive compensation for damages caused by the
Churchill Falls Generating Station
The Churchill Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric underground power station in Labrador. At 5,428 MW, it is the sixteenth largest in the world, and the second-largest in Canada, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station in northw ...
.
Rates and customers
Quebec market

At the end of 2010, Hydro-Québec served 4,060,195 customers grouped into three broad categories: residential and farm (D Rate), commercial and institutional (G Rate) and industrial (M and L rates). The ''Other'' category includes public lighting systems and municipal distribution systems.
About a dozen distribution rates are set annually by the ''Régie de l'énergie'' after public hearings. Pricing is based on the cost of delivery, which includes the cost of supply and transmission, depreciation on fixed assets and provisions for the maintenance of facilities, customer growth and a profit margin.
Rates are uniform throughout Quebec and are based on consumer type and volume of consumption. All rates vary in block to mitigate any cross-subsidization effect between residential, commercial and industrial customers.
Hydro-Québec retail rates are among the lowest in North America. After a five-year rate freeze, between May 1, 1998 and January 1, 2004, the ''Régie'' granted rate increases on 8 occasions between 2004 and 2010 for a total of 18.4%. More recently, the regulator ordered two successive rate rollbacks in 2011 (0.4%) and 2012 (0.5%). However, rates are expected to go up by 3.7% a year from 2014 to 2018 to reflect a gradual increase of heritage pool electricity announced in the 2010 Quebec budget.
Residential customers
The average consumption of residential and agricultural customers is relatively high, at 16,857 kWh per year in 2011, because of the widespread use of electricity as the main source of electric heating, space (77%) and water heating (90%). Hydro-Québec estimates that heating accounts for more than one half of the electricity demand in the residential sector.
This preference for electric heating makes electricity demand more unpredictable, but offers some environmental benefits. Despite Quebec's very cold climate in winter, greenhouse gases emissions in the residential sector accounted for only 5.5% (4.65 Mt eq.) of all emissions in Quebec in 2006. Emissions from the residential sector in Quebec fell by 30% between 1990 and 2006.
Residential use of electricity fluctuates from one year to another, and is strongly correlation and dependence, correlated with the weather. Contrary to the trend in neighboring networks, Hydro-Québec's system is winter-peak demand, peaking. A new all-time consumption record was set on January 23, 2013 with a load of . Previous records were established on January 24, 2011 with , on January 16, 2009, with a load of , and on January 15, 2004 when peak reached .
The price of electricity for residences and farms includes a 40.64¢ daily subscription fee, and two price levels depending on consumption. The rates are all-included: power, transmission and distribution costs, but are subject to the Goods and Services Tax (Canada), Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Quebec Sales Tax (QST). As of April 1, 2012, customers pay 5.32¢/kWh for the first 30 daily kWh, while the remainder is sold at 7.51¢/kWh. The average monthly bill for a residential customer was approximately C$100 in 2008.
Electric meter readings are usually conducted every two months and bills are bimonthly. However, the company offers an optional ''Equalized Payment Plan'' allowing residential customers to pay their annual electricity costs in 12 monthly installments, based on past consumption patterns of the current customer address and the average temperature in that location.
In 2007, Hydro-Québec pulled out of a Canadian government initiative to install smart meters across the province, stating that it would be "too costly to deliver real savings". Since then, Hydro-Québec organized a 2-year pilot project, involving 2,000 customers in 4 cities, with Net metering, time of use metering. A report, filed with the ''Régie de l'énergie'', in the summer of 2010 concluded that the effect of marginal cost pricing with three levels of pricing in the winter would lead to minimal load and energy savings. The company intends to gradually phase-in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) between 2011 and 2017. Early efforts will focus on meter data transfer, connect-disconnect, outage detection and theft reduction.
Industrial customers
For more than a century, industrial development in Quebec has been stimulated by the abundance of hydroelectric resources. Energy represents a significant expenditure in the pulp and paper and aluminum sectors. two industries with long-standing traditions in Quebec. In 2010, industrial customers purchased 68.4 TWh from Hydro-Québec, representing 40.4% of all electricity sold by the company on the domestic market.

The Quebec government uses low electricity rates to attract new business and consolidate existing jobs. Despite its statutory obligation to sell electric power to every person who so requests, the province has reserved the right to grant large load allocations to companies on a case-by-case basis since 1974. The threshold was set at 175 MW from 1987 to 2006 and was reduced to 50 MW in the government's 2006–2015 energy strategy.
Large industrial users pay a lower rate than the domestic and commercial customers, because of lower distribution costs. In 2010, the largest industrial users, the ''Rate L'' customers, were paying an average of 4.66¢/kWh whereas companies with special contracts paid 3.07¢/kWh.
In 1987, Hydro-Québec and the Quebec government agreed to a series of controversial deals with aluminum giants Alcan and Alcoa. These risk sharing contracts set the price of electricity based on a series of factors, including aluminum world prices and the value of the Canadian dollar Those agreements are gradually being replaced by one based on published rates.
On May 10, 2007, the Quebec government signed an agreement with Alcan. The agreement, which is still in force despite the company's merger with Rio Tinto Group, renews the water rights concession on the Saguenay and Peribonka rivers. In exchange, Alcan has agreed to invest in its Quebec facilities and to maintain jobs and its corporate headquarters in Montreal.
On December 19, 2008, Hydro-Québec and Alcoa signed a similar agreement. This agreement, which expires in 2040, maintains the provision of electricity to Alcoa's three aluminum smelters in the province, located in
Baie-Comeau
Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...
, Bécancour, Quebec, Bécancour and Deschambault-Grondines, Quebec, Deschambault-Grondines. In addition, the deal will allow Alcoa to modernize the Baie-Comeau plant which will increase its production capacity by 110,000 tonnes a year, to a total of 548,000 tonnes.
Several economists, including Université Laval's Jean-Thomas Bernard and Gérard Bélanger, have challenged the government's strategy and argue that sales to large industrial customers are very costly to the Quebec economy. In an article published in 2008, the researchers estimate that, under the current regime, a job in a new aluminum smelter or an expansion project costs the province between C$255,357 and C$729,653 a year, when taking into consideration the money that could be made by selling the excess electricity on the New York market.
This argument is disputed by large industrial customers, who point out that data from 2000 to 2006 indicate that electricity exports prices get lower when quantities increase, and vice versa. "We find that the more we export, the less lucrative it gets", said Luc Boulanger, the head of the association representing Quebec's large industrial customers. In his opinion, the high volatility of electricity markets and the transmission infrastructure physical limitations reduce the quantities of electricity that can be exported when prices are higher.
Hydro Quebec gained attention with Bitcoin miners in 2018 after the crackdown on mining in China.
The province has an energy surplus equivalent to 10 Terawatt hours per year.
Export markets

Hydro-Québec sells part of its surplus electricity to neighbouring systems in Canada and the United States under long-term contracts and transactions on the New England, New York and Ontario electricity market#Wholesale electricity market, bulk energy markets. In 2017, net exports revenues were at $1,651 million for a total of 34.4 TWh sent to New England (53%), New York (23%), Ontario (13%) and other (5%).
Although most export sales are now short-term transactions, Hydro-Québec has entered into long-term export contracts in the past. The corporation has 15 interconnections to neighboring markets. In 1990, the company signed a 328-MW deal with a group of 13 electric distributors in Vermont. On March 11, 2010, Vermont's two largest utilities, Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service, entered into a tentative 26-year deal with Hydro-Québec to purchase up to 225 MW of hydro power from 2012 to 2038. The memorandum of understanding provides for a price smoothing mechanism shielding Vermont customers from market price spikes. The deal is contingent upon the enactment designating large hydro as "renewable energy".
In 2015, Hydro-Quebec and the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) signed a 500-MW seasonal capacity sharing agreement. Ontario has increased capacity in the Winter, and shortages in the summer. Quebec has increased capacity in the summer, and shortages in the Winter. Thus, the agreement serves as to achieve a cost-effective solution for both provinces. Furthermore, in 2016 (IESO) and Hydro-Quebec signed a new long-term agreement starting in 2017 until 2023. The deal will send 2TWh per year to Ontario. On the other hand, Quebec should receive capacity from Ontario during Winter's peak demand.
Presidents
From 1944 to 1978, management of Hydro-Québec consisted of five commissioners, one of them acting as president.
Influence of Cross-Border Transmission Research
In addition to the long-standing focus on large-scale transmission expansion, contemporary research—such as that presented by Gazar ''et al.'' (2024)
—has investigated the causal relationships between cross-border transmission capacity, new hydroelectric generation, and evolving energy demand in the northeastern United States and Canada. Their Bayesian network analysis suggests that increases in Quebec’s hydroelectric capacity historically correlate more strongly with domestic demand and market price signals, rather than simply the availability of expanded transmission corridors. These findings can inform discussions of whether newly proposed U.S.–Canada intertie projects should include upstream reservoir development in environmental impact assessments.
See also
* Édifice Hydro-Québec
*
James Bay Project
The James Bay Project () involves the construction of a series of hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by government-owned corporation, state-owned public utility, utility Hydro-Qué ...
* Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system
* Timeline of Quebec history
Footnotes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
See also
* Karim Zaghib
External links
*
Hydro-Québec Act
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydro-Quebec
Hydro-Québec,
Electric power distribution network operators
Electric power transmission system operators in Canada
Nuclear power companies of Canada
Hydroelectric power companies of Canada
Crown corporations of Quebec
Companies based in Montreal
Energy companies established in 1944
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1944
1944 establishments in Quebec
Canadian companies established in 1944
Government-owned energy companies of Canada