QUEBEC CITY — Lawyers are examining the risks posed by the CAQ government’s setting of Hydro-Quebec rates on electricity exports to the United States.
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This might indeed contravene the rules set in the American markets and even compromise negotiations on export contracts, raised the Parti Québécois (PQ).
Prime Minister François Legault recently suggested that the government would exceptionally mitigate the 2023 rate increase, to prevent them from matching the current very high inflation. The law he had adopted provides that the Régie de l’énergie no longer controls the rates annually, but that they are aligned with the consumer price index.
However, American regulators require tariffs to be set by independent bodies, such as the Régie de l’énergie.
In a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, PQ MP Sylvain Gaudreault recalled that for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), “the independence of politics in setting prices is extremely important in order to guarantee market stability”.
He wanted to know if the intentions displayed by the government had any effect on the negotiations of electricity export contracts with New York and Massachusetts.
Energy Minister Jonatan Julien said he is working “to demonstrate the independence of the process” for setting rates.
In a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, he confirmed that the jurists of the State, those of his ministry, as well as those of Hydro-Québec, are looking into this question.
“We make sure that there is no issue in respecting these regulatory requirements.”
Mr. Julien has already hinted that he would modify the law he had passed under gag order in 2019 to permanently cap annual increases at 3%.
The bill should be tabled before the end of the parliamentary session in June, according to Le Devoir.
Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press