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

After just three years in office, Sophie Brochu will leave the helm of Hydro-Québec in April. The decision of the President and Chief Executive Officer is part of a tense context: her vision of the future of the Crown corporation diverged considerably from that maintained by the government. During her shortened mandate, she nevertheless had time to position Hydro-Québec as the locomotive of the energy transition.

“I am deeply grateful to have had the chance to work for the advancement of our great state-owned company, alongside a competent and committed team,” said Tuesday morning in a press release the principal concerned, arrival at the head of the public company in April 2020in the midst of a pandemic.

The reason for his departure is not specified. According to the press release, it is M^me Brochu who announced his decision to the board of directors. “The time has come to pass the torch,” she said, noting that Hydro-Québec is now in “good shape” and that “the company’s financial situation is excellent.”

Complex relations between Quebec and Hydro

The relationship between M^me Brochu and the Government of Quebec has proved stormy in recent months. In October, she said she did not want the province to change in “Dollarama” of low-cost energy for foreign companies. According to information from The Press published at the time, M^me Brochu would not have hesitated to leave Hydro-Québec if the state corporation found itself subordinated to the province’s economic development imperatives.

“As long as the governance framework within the Hydro-Québec government is sound and we are able to assert the major prerogatives of the energy system’s needs, I will be there,” said Ms.^me Paperback in October at 98.5 FM. But if, for one reason or another, I saw that this system was at risk, well, I would have serious discussions with my shareholder. »

As a result of this controversy, Prime Minister Legault had created a new “committee on the economy and the energy transition in order to coordinate government action in this area. A group of ministers are part of it, including Pierre Fitzgibbon (Economy, Innovation and Energy), as well as M^me Leaflet. It only met once, in December.

In a meeting with his employees on Tuesday followingnoon, Mr.^me Brochu denied that his relationship with Mr. Fitzgibbon was the reason for his departure. “And it is not because things are not going well with the government that I made this decision,” she added, according to Radio-Canada.

Even before the announcement of the CEO’s resignation, the coming year was set to be complex for Hydro-Québec and the government. Minister Fitzgibbon promised a “strong” bill to regulate energy-intensive behavior client. This law might upset the pricing structure of the public company.

Tuesday morning, the Premier of Quebec, Francois Legaulthighlighted in a chirp the “pleasure” he had working with Mr.^me Brochu on “major projects” such as the hydroelectricity sales contract with New York and the development of the wind power sector. In opposition, Solidarity Quebec considers that the departure of M^me Brochu is “disturbing”; the Liberal Party demands “transparency” in the process of appointing a successor to the head of Hydro-Québec.

“I suspect that government interference ended up making M^me Brochu uncomfortable ”, observes Jean-Pierre Finet, analyst at the Regrouping of environmental organizations in energy (ROEE). A recent example of this interference is, according to Mr. Finet, the cancellation at the last minute, in December, of calls for tenders for renewable energy, which must make way for a “new mechanism” aimed at the development of wind power.

Energetic transition

The last few months have also seen renewed interest from the government for the construction of hydroelectric power stations. In an internal letter sent Tuesday morning to Hydro-Québec employees, obtained by The dutyM^me Brochu specifies that “in terms of energy transition, the possibilities available to Quebecers are numerous”. “It will all be a matter of choice,” she adds.

Without explicitly mentioning the major production projects that Hydro-Québec will have to launch to increase its capacity, M^me Brochu writes that it will be necessary to work “in concert with the communities concerned” to assess the potential “of the sites which present the best potential for hydroelectric development”.

As soon as she arrived at the head of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu made her mark. She first established a new strategic plan to meet the challenges of the energy transition. After years of surplus, this plan warned of the risk of running out of electricity during peak periods, during severe winter cold, from 2027.

At the same time, his team started a major restructuring of the organization to have more flexibility. In 2022, Hydro-Québec thus integrated into a single entity the three major divisions — distribution, production and transmission — which until then had evolved independently of each other. The Hilo subsidiary must also be partially repatriated.

“She was a good person to take on the position of CEO of Hydro-Québec – not perfect, you can always find criticism, but she had established excellent general guidelines,” said Roger Lanoue, energy advisor. and former vice-president of Hydro-Québec. “From his point of view, betting on decarbonization represented a golden opportunity. The convictions of the CAQ government, in this regard, seem rather superficial. »

Before leading Hydro-Québec, Mr.^me Brochu worked at Énergir (formerly Gaz Métro), the main gas distributor in Quebec. She was its main patron from 2007 until the end of 2019. In 2021, Énergir and Hydro-Québec signed an important partnership concerning dual energy electricity-natural gas for heating.

Hydro-Québec’s board of directors may recommend candidates for the post of CEO, but the appointment of the next incumbent will have to be decided by the Council of Ministers. The previous CEOs of Hydro-Québec, each of whom remained in office longer, are Éric Martel (2015-2020), Thierry Vandal (2005-2015) and André Caillé (1996-2005).

With Ulysses Bergeron

To see in video