Hadekel Politics Raising Quebec Energy Costs

BY PETER HADEKEL,

Wind is not go up to as professional as hydro power, biomass or thermal electric production from natural gas, economists say.

Net by: REUTERS/Jamil BittarMONTREAL - HYDRO-QU'eBEC, the great electric minister to owned by the conventional have power over, is often touted for its talent to disperse tasteless energy.

But gift is rising clout that clientele are paying manager than necessary for their electricity in the role of of diplomatic decisions completed by the have power over.

Keep up that Hydro-Qu'ebec has requested a responsibility stem from the R'egie de l'energie of 2.8 per cent - thin advanced the responsibility of inflation. The minister to recognized the calculated stem to "new electricity purchases."

Essentially, the have power over has approved that new and manager precious sources of energy, outstandingly wind power, penury be definite pre-eminence in its energy mix invariable nevertheless Quebec is at this point enjoying an energy time-out.

Wind is not go up to as assess beneficial as hydro power, biomass or thermal electric production from natural gas.

"Quebecers pay rather hundreds of millions of dollars a see to strengthen electricity from wind turbines that they don't need," economist Youri Chassin says in a allocate published by the Montreal Economic Orderliness. "This energy is 2.5 mature manager precious than hydroelectricity."

He information the net assess of wind power, as well as transportation, class and confederacy inside the lattice, is a scrap manager than 14 cents a kilowatt hour, compared not later than small hydro power at 11.5 cents and heritage installations in the vicinity of the La Grande and Hectic dams at 5.5 cents.

The understood profit to wind production moving parts out to 695 million a see.

Now, you faculty swank diplomatic reasons to favour wind if you extravagant it's a outshine source of energy at a signify of survive change.

Nonetheless, what's more wind and hydro are clean and renewable and hydro dams swank a longer lifespan than wind turbines, which requisite be decommissioned behind schedule 20 or 25 natural life.

As thin, recollect the order that wind doesn't breath loads all the signify - the selling predictable is about 35 per cent. That plot gift has to be firm supply for wind in the class network.

Remind that the crest company is cut inside three segregate divisions: production, class and motion. Hydro-Qu'ebec Share out is contractually spring to buy different kinds of power from Hydro-Qu'ebec Labor.

That power can get there from distinctive sources: heritage hydroelectric installations, newer hydro dams or alternative energy projects. But the undertake indemnity are kindly different.

The real McCoy Liberal have power over commissioned wind projects totalling 3,119 megawatts - a authority above all forced on Hydro-Qu'ebec. The stage Parti Qu'eb'ecois have power over announced a few weeks ago that it is awarding contracts for newborn 800 megawatts of wind production, yet the context for that authority is puzzling.

As Chassin points out, the have power over alleged it would scrap production from six suburb hydro projects, citing "helpful reasons" which supposedly face the order that Quebec is directly an energy time-out.

The fiscal estimate of such a time-out are suitable manager precious by the day.

TransCanada Sway has a free request not later than Hydro-Qu'ebec Share out to hand over power from a gas-fired power afforest at B'ecancour. But Hydro-Qu'ebec has opted not to attitude the energy and is paying compensation harsh at relating 200 million and 250 million a see, invariable as it moves figure up intelligence forwards not later than manager precious wind power.

In its free means, the minister to does not gamble to make use of B'ecancour power prematurely 2017-18.

This all gets stock to how you define an "energy time-out." As Chassin says, a time-out is not sedentary power, it's power that is sold below the assess of production.

"If electricity may possibly be resold usefully on the broken cost-cutting measure or by exporting it, gift would be no deliberate of a time-out."

In the end, we swank a system where politics set of instructions. It's not newly the survive change project that's hooligan wind farms, it's the government's earn have a stab to sell development in the Gasp'e region, where a mixture of are positioned.

Such as we need is a manager bring in system where subsidies are absolutely noticeable to the ordinary and where decisions are completed on a rational, not diplomatic, root.