Energy bill: “We have to find better ways to increase production,” says Hydro-Québec CEO Michael Sabia

Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon will present his energy bill this week, and in this plan, he must be innovative and consider all energy sources, including nuclear, so that Quebec can produce more while respecting its ambitious goals of decarbonizing the province by 2050. .

Demand for energy will increase in the coming years as the Quebec government plans to attract more businesses, the Minister of Finance, Innovation and Energy has indicated.

It's a situation Hydro Quebec president and CEO Michael Sabia says he's familiar with.

“We need to find better ways to increase production,” Mr. Sabia reiterated Monday morning, adding that Belle Province also “needs to improve” on the environmental level of its energy production.

To increase electricity supply, the Quebec government has, among other things, pushed this rhetoric of energy moderation. In addition, Minister Fitzgibbon has tapped into the collective imagination with his proposal to allow Quebecers to run their dishwashers at night, the periods when they spend most of their time outside.

However, in its plan, Quebec plans to accelerate projects in the northern province, including wind projects or aiming to restore nuclear power.

The results of the study aimed at restarting the Gentilly-2 power plant have been kept confidential for now, but the government's discourse regarding this energy source has changed significantly.

“It is something that should not be completely ruled out [comme] In the past,” Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec president and CEO, Charles Emond, said last week.

“In case there are still power shortages in some places […] There is some merit in looking at it, but I am saying it in a global way,” he added.

The parliamentary session ends on Friday and the much-awaited energy bill is expected to be introduced by the end of the week.