Quebec Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, details his new legislation during a press conference, on June 6 in Quebec City. Fitzgibbon last week tabled Bill 69, which aims to speed up the development of new electricity projects and allow for more private production.For decades, Quebec has attracted industry with the promise of nearly limitless quantities of clean hydropower at rock-bottom rates to power their plants and smelters.
In March, Hydro-Québec hired Graham Fox, a former managing principal at public relations and strategy firm Navigator, as vice-president of public affairs and communications. Last month, the utility recruited Rio Tinto executive Michel Charron as its vice-president of construction projects. It also hired McKinsey energy consultant Joël Thibert as vice-president of energy planning and strategy.
“We’re clearly not ready, because a lot of people do not want new dams, some people do not want to have wind farms next to their homes, some people probably don’t want to have solar panels either,” Mr. Fitzgibbon said. The provincial utility will develop wind-power projects exceeding 1,000 megawatts in capacity on its own, with an overall goal of increasing wind-power production by 10,000 MW by 2035.directly to “adjacent” industrial customers, instead of only to Hydro-Québec, as is now the case. The provision is likely to accelerate the development dedicated power projects not connected to provincial grid, giving big industrial facilities access to an additional source of electricity.