HYDRO-QUÉBEC FORCED TO REVIEW RATES IN LIGHT OF EV GROWTH

By Anne Bourgoin

The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) and new government ambitions have forced Hydro-Québec to readjust its projections for electricity consumption in Québec. According to the electricity supplier, by 2032, 1.2 terawatt-hours will have to be added to the projected overall energy demand, just to meet the needs of these vehicles. This corresponds to the electricity consumption of 70,000 Québec households. This revision was prompted by the reinforcement of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) standard, following the Québec government’s announcement of a new target of 2 million EVs on the road by 2030.

This adjustment results from a previous underestimation of the demand conceded by Hydro-Québec in parliamentary commission on November 30. The company’s vice-president, Julie Boucher, acknowledged accelerated electrification at the time, which surprised Professor Normand Mousseau, Scientific Director of the Institut de l’énergie Trottier. He told Radio-Canada that “not to have seen coming in 2021 the number of EVs in 2023 doesn’t make sense. The trend was clear, we were seeing exponential growth. There’s nothing surprising about where we are today.”