Hydro-Quebec is forecasting strong demand for electricity Friday and Saturday due to the extreme cold expected in the province.
Even if Hydro-Québec can afford to export its surpluses, the state-owned company must instead import at very high rates during certain peak periods to avoid potential shortages.
Jonathan Côté, spokesman for Hydro-Québec, advises customers:
– Watch out for rush hours
– to distribute consumption;
– Use household appliances off-peak;
– Shower before or after peak hours;
– to heat only the necessary rooms;
– Lower the heating in unoccupied rooms.
Two new programs
Two new programs from Hydro-Québec, Dynamic Pricing and Hilo, are being introduced to help you optimize your electricity consumption.
Hilo “is only automating some of the work because you’re going to have smart thermostats that are going to do some of the work for you,” the spokesperson explained.
Whereas “with dynamic pricing, you do it yourself, but you get rewarded with money”.
It is still possible to subscribe to these services and these would take effect within one business day.