President and CEO Sophie Brochu will retire as head of Hydro-Québec in April

After just three years in office, Sophie Brochu will leave the reins of Hydro-Québec in April. The president and chief executive officer’s decision is part of a tense context: her vision of the Crown corporation’s future diverges significantly from that of the government. During her brief mandate, she had time to position Hydro-Québec as the locomotive of the energy transition.

“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with a capable and committed team for the development of our great state-owned company,” the major interested party said in a press release on Tuesday morning. Will reach the head of a public company in April 2020In the middle of a pandemic, for a period of five years.

The reason for his departure was not specified, and in the immediate future, M^me Brochu will not venture into any new professional venture. “The time has come to pass the torch,” she said in a press release, noting that Hydro-Québec is now “in good shape” and that “the company’s finances are excellent.”

In an interview with Radio-Canada on Tuesday, Mr.^me Brochu stressed that her departure was “not a political decision” and that he was happy with her talks with the government. “There is – and it is very healthy, it is necessary – a certain tension between the government and Hydro-Québec, normal. And if it is not, obviously, because there is no pulse in our veins, we will die,” she continued.

M^me Brochu leaves his position to a leader more amenable to concretizing the company’s strategic plan, a plan he calls “the architect.”

Complex relations between Quebec and hydro

The relationship between M^me Brochu and the Quebec government have been in a storm in recent months. In October, she said she didn’t want to change provinces In a “dollarama” of low-cost energy For foreign companies. According to information from Press Published at the time, M^me Brochu would not hesitate to leave Hydro-Québec if the state corporation was subservient to the province’s economic development requirements.

“As long as the governance framework in the Hydro-Québec government is solid and we can assert core powers related to the needs of the energy system, I will remain there,” said Msgr.^me Paperback at 98.5 FM in October. However, if, for one reason or another, I see that this system is at risk, I will have a serious discussion with my stakeholder. »

As a result of this controversy, the Prime Minister Legault created a new “committee on the economy and energy transition To coordinate government actions in this area. Pierre Fitzgibbon (Economy, Innovation and Energy), as well as a large group of ministers are part of it.^me pamphlet. The committee met only once in December. Hydro-Quebec’s big boss announced Tuesday that he has “confidence” in the mechanism set up by the prime minister.

Even before the CEO’s resignation announcement, the coming year will be complicated for Hydro-Québec and the government. Minister Fitzgibbon It promised a “robust” bill to regulate energy-intensive behaviour The client. This act may disrupt the pricing structure of a public company.

On Tuesday morning, the Quebec premiere, Francois Legaultis highlighted in chirping He had the “joy” of working with Mr.^me A brochure on “major projects” such as New York’s hydropower sales agreement and development of the wind power sector. On the opposition side, Solidarity Quebec Considered as the departure of M^me Brochu is “concerned” and the Liberal Party has asked for “transparency” in the process of appointing a successor to the head of Hydro-Québec.

“I suspect that government intervention ended up doing M^me Brochu is uncomfortable,” observed Jean-Pierre Finet, an analyst at Regroupement of Environmental Organizations in Energy. A recent example of this intervention is Mr. According to Finet, the last-minute suspension of calls for tenders for renewable energy in December.

Power transformation

The past few months have also seen renewed interest from the government For construction of hydroelectric power stations. In an internal letter sent Tuesday morning to Hydro-Québec employees obtained by destinyM^me Brochu noted that “in terms of energy transition, Quebecers have many opportunities.” “It all becomes a matter of choice,” she adds.

Without clearly specifying the major production projects that Hydro-Québec should undertake to increase its capacity, M^me Brochu wrote that evaluating “sites that offer the best potential for hydropower development” requires “working with the communities involved.”

Soon after arriving at the head of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu made her mark. She founded first A new strategic plan To meet the challenges of energy transition. After years of surplus, the plan addresses the risks of power shortages during peak periods during the severe cold season starting in 2027.

At the same time, his team began a major restructuring of the organization to have more flexibility. In 2022, Hydro-Québec consolidated the three main divisions – distribution, generation and transmission – into a single entity, which until then had developed independently of each other. Hilo must also be a subsidiary Partially repatriated.

I suspect that the government’s intervention made Mrs. Brochu uncomfortable

“She is a good person to hold the post of CEO of Hydro-Québec – not perfect, you can always find criticism, but she has established excellent general trends,” said Roger Lanau, energy consultant and former vice-president of Hydro-Québec. “In his view, betting on decarbonisation represents a golden opportunity. Government beliefs Future Quebec Alliance, in this case, looks rather superficial. »

Before leading Hydro-Québec, Mr.^me Brochu worked at Energir (formerly Gaz Métro), a major gas distributor in Quebec. She was its chief patron from 2007 to late 2019. In 2021, Energir and Hydro-Québec signed an important partnership. Dual energy electricity-natural gas For heating.

Hydro-Québec’s board of directors can recommend candidates for the position of CEO, but the appointment of the next incumbent must be decided by the Council of Ministers. Hydro-Québec’s previous CEOs, each of whom served longer periods in office, were Eric Martel (2015–2020), Thierry Vandal (2005–2015) and André Caille (1996–2005).

With Ulysses Bergeron

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