2023-08-02 04:00:00
Already waiting for two years, a couple from Ripon, in the Outaouais, will have to wait another five months before finally being connected to Hydro-Québec.
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Vicky and her spouse won the Hydro-Quebec deadline lottery. There is no worse case than theirs, by Hydro’s own admission.
“I spoke on July 19 with an employee of Hydro-Quebec and he said to me: “You, in Quebec, you are the worst file that exists. It’s a stormy file and you should file a complaint officially.
The couple made a connection request to Hydro-Québec at the beginning of August 2021. Since then, it has been a succession of calls, dates promised but always postponed, and excuses of all kinds from the from Hydro. The last connection date promised by Hydro-Québec: January 19, 2024, two and a half years following their request.
“It’s really costing us. We installed an underground electric wire at our expense for $25,000 plus tax three years ago. Hydro-Québec is billing us nearly $40,000 for a 400-meter extension to the network, which we currently pay every two months. And in winter, it costs us $90 a day for the generator,” says the young woman.
And 3e winter without being connected
Hydro-Québec connection delays have become commonplace. But a two-and-a-half-year wait is an exceptional case.
“You have no idea the anxiety and the turmoil this is causing us. This winter will be the third that we will spend this way. Last winter, it cost us $1,000 of propane and more than $6,000 of gas for the generator in two months,” she says.
The couple even cleared the land at their own expense to allow the arrival of the wires, the poles are there, but not Hydro. “Here, it’s all growing back, it’s vegetation. It doesn’t make sense,” says Vicky, who adds that the couple can’t pay subcontractors to complete the house because their savings go into heating and the generator.
Hydro-Québec responds
“The planting of the 15 poles by contractors mandated by Hydro-Québec has been completed since July 25, 2023 and we must now carry out electrical work requiring more than 150 hours and planned interruptions for which we must take into account the other customers who will be impacted,” says Cendrix Bouchard of Hydro-Québec.
The acquisition of easements (the rights to pass the wires on land belonging to others) is largely responsible for the delays, he points out. “The time required for the acquisition of easements is beyond our control and was several months in this case. It is important to understand that although steps have been underway since the end of April 2021, it would be wrong to conclude that the delays are all attributable to Hydro-Québec,” he concludes.
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