Mr Legault made the announcement during Question Time in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The Churchill Falls Dam power supply contract expires in 2041 and its renewal is a cornerstone of the Legault government’s energy strategy.
There is great potential for cooperation to meet future energy needs, his counterpart Andrew Furey said on Twitter on Tuesday. Together with the experts, we will ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador residents receive the best value for our resources.
Keep in mind that the CAQ government foresees an increase in electricity demand due to the decarbonization of Quebec’s economy.
On Jan. 25, in an interview with Radio-Canada, Mr. Legault said the 2050 target his government has set for carbon neutrality makes it all the more urgent to renegotiate the Quebec-Saint-Jean agreement.
The Prime Minister also expressed an interest in the Gull Island dam project on the Churchill River, adding that he would not come empty-handed to his meeting with Mr Furey. Hydro-Quebec, he recalls, also has four or five projects on Quebec territory.
If that doesn’t work, Churchill Falls and Gull Island, we, [on va faire notre propre] dam, he said in an interview with Patrice Roy.
The renewal of the Churchill Falls contract draws near. This contract was signed in 1969 and Hydro-Québec buys electricity from the dam at 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour. In 2022 it was exported for 8.2 cents per kilowatt hour. Renegotiations will not be easy, as we will see in a report by Michèle Brideau.
15% of Hydro-Québec’s energy needs
The Churchill Falls Treaty encompasses a vast amount of energy. The plant provides almost 15% of Hydro-Québec’s needs, or 31 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy per year.
Premier Legault does not want the state-owned company to remain dependent on a hydroelectric power plant that is not even on its territory. Therefore, in his opinion, a plan B is necessary.
The announcement of that visit comes as we learned this week that the Uashat mak Mani-utenam band council had filed a lawsuit against Hydro-Québec and CFLCo, the company that operates the facility in question.
The Innu government submitted its application to the Superior Court last Friday. He is demanding $2.2 billion from Hydro-Québec, which he accuses of having destroyed its territory.
It’s confirmed: François Legault will travel to Newfoundland to meet Prime Minister Andrew Furey and negotiate the extension of the Churchill Falls Treaty, which expires in 2041.