Are we witnessing the beginning of the privatization of electricity?
• Also read: Hydro-Québec: five project sponsors for eight new wind farms
• Also read: Towards a quiet privatization of Hydro-Québec?
Is the Legault government preparing to deregulate electricity production and then sales, which would shake Hydro-Québec's monopoly?
Is the legacy of the Quiet Revolution, that of an energy master among us, subtly and suddenly threatened by Pierre Fitzgibbon and François Legault?
The CAQ top brass assures us that no. Worry no more, says PM, “private to private” will always be “marginal and not significant”.
So no need to worry.
However, we can be suspicious of those who say we shouldn't be suspicious. Especially when we look at the bigger picture.
context
The big picture is this: to decarbonize our economy, we inevitably need to increase our electricity production. Up to doubling.
This is a huge project in itself.
But that is not all.
The core of the Legault government's economic strategy is to attract large industrial companies with ridiculously low electricity tariffs.
This is the Dollarama strategy denounced by former Hydro-Québec CEO Sophie Brochu.
That's working well, there are almost 150 projects on the table in the minister's office. Companies see this as a business opportunity.
How then can we meet the demand? Legault and Fitzgibbon have their own idea: They want private companies to be able to produce their own electricity and then sell it to others. There is a draft law on this topic.
An example: Amazon would produce its own electricity with its wind farm and then sell the surplus to other companies or to Hydro-Québec.
We must admit that this is the beginning of the privatization of electricity generation in Quebec.
While we need to be open to new ways of generating electricity, there is cause for concern here.
And this for strategic, economic, symbolic and democratic reasons.
Strategic and economic reasons
The first to suffer from privatization would be Hydro-Québec.
The specialist knowledge would initially run the risk of gradually leaving private companies. Just like we experienced in the healthcare and transportation sectors.
Expertise, but also competition for access to resources and materials. International markets are currently saturated with demand for renewable energy equipment.
Logical: If Quebec decarbonizes, other countries will follow the same path. Good luck to Hydro, which has to compete with private companies to buy turbines, for example.
You may even be worried about your rates. Certainly the Legault government vows to limit them.
But attracting companies at prices below the price of production will come at a cost. All the experts say so.
Who pays the bill? Either hydropower itself or SMEs or taxpayers.
Then symbolic and democratic reasons
Hydro-Québec is also a source of national pride. Symbol of independence and a community that socializes its efforts for the common good. It's not nothing.
This nationalist government will have to explain the benefits of denationalization – however partial.
And this is ultimately a democratic question.
In 2022, the CAQ presented itself to voters without ever mentioning a possible opening to the private sector in the electricity sector.
This should have been put on the table. This could even be debated in a referendum. In any case, it shouldn't be decided between a few people.