The Régie de l’énergie should have more power to monitor Hydro-Québec. Otherwise, its customers’ bills could be steep, fear three associations representing residential consumers, SMEs, and large industrial users.
Option consommateurs, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), and the Association québécoise des consommateurs industriels d’électricité (AQCIE) are issuing this joint warning at a time when Hydro-Québec is undertaking a major investment program.
The Crown corporation plans to invest nearly $200 billion by 2035 to increase its production and improve the reliability of its network.
Without increased oversight, Hydro-Québec’s numerous projects could cause electricity costs in Quebec to skyrocket, according to the three associations.
“Otherwise, we may end up with decisions that will lead us to a wall in the coming years,” warns Christian Corbeil, executive director of Option consommateurs, in an interview.
The Régie needs to be given more teeth quickly, agrees François Vincent, CFIB vice president for Quebec.
“It’s not when rates spiral out of control that it will be time to act and reform the energy framework,” he warns. “There will be major expenses and investments that will put pressure on everyone.”
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The Legault government has weakened the role of the Régie, lament the three associations that have joined forces.
The Régie is the “best guarantee of protection” for all categories of customers of the Hydro-Québec monopoly, according to AQCIE president Jocelyn Allard.
“We need an organization like the Régie to ensure that we don’t go overboard, that the expenses, investments, and costs that will be absorbed by customers are reasonable and useful,” insists Allard. “That’s the role of the Régie. It has worked.”
The three groups oppose the decision to conduct rate reviews every three years rather than annually.
“Every year, (the Régie) took the liberty of checking and verifying certain aspects of Hydro-Québec’s requests,” Allard points out. “That’s why it’s useful.”
The business community has repeatedly criticized the Legault government’s intervention in the electricity rate-setting mechanism.
Quebec has capped residential rate increases at 3 per cent. Businesses, for their part, will have to pay more when Hydro-Québec needs a larger increase to offset its rising costs.
Hydro-Québec is asking the Régie to grant it a 3 per cent increase for households in 2026, 2027, and 2028. The Crown corporation is seeking a higher increase for businesses and institutions, namely 4.8 per cent.
Although the increases are capped for residential customers, Option consommateurs also takes a dim view of government intervention in this matter.
“The 3 per cent is very arbitrary,” says Corbeil. “We must remember that it was a government decree. The next government could decide not to apply the decree.”
By capping rates for all residential customers, the government is casting too wide a net, he says. “It’s not the person with a big pool or a big house who needs (the cap).”
The three associations suggest instead adding an “energy” component to the solidarity tax credit. The measure would be more targeted and less costly, according to the three associations.
They estimate that the cost of this proposal would be $44 million for assistance equivalent to 1 per cent of the electricity bill of less affluent households, a way to mitigate the rate increase.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
