Group demands $1.4B payback from Hydro-Québec over bills
A coalition of Quebecers incensed that Hydro- Québec overbilled clients $1.4 billion over eight years on their electricity bills gathered Tuesday night to demand the government give it back.
Followers of the movement dubbed “Let’s get our money back from Hydro-Québec”, also known as the Coalition Peuple allumé, came together to launch an official letter to Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard demanding he present a plan within the next 10 days of how the government will reimburse taxpayers. If nothing comes, the coalition is considering other measures, including a class-action lawsuit.
More than 13,000 people have signed an online letter on the weroes.com civic action website in support of giving formal notice to Couillard. “I think people are very very upset about this and they are not going to let it slide,” said event co-organizer Pascal Zamprelli. “When the government had the idea to nationalize electricity it was based on the benefits of low energy costs — it was supposed to benefit all Quebecers, not make them poorer.”
The issue of Hydro-Québec’s overbilling has been public knowledge for years. In 2015, Natural Resources Minister Pierre Arcand said sums would be reimbursed once the government balanced its budget. Now that the government has done so, citizens are expecting payback, Zamprelli said.
Arcand confirmed on April 5 that the provincial utility has imposed higher rates than necessary since 2008. The money went to paying down the province’s deficit, he said. Now that the budget is balanced, he said Hydro- Québec will be more modest when it seeks rate increases. But members of the coalition note the government has not specified if it will use past profits to minimize future rate increases, or if it will count on future windfalls to limit rate hikes.
Coalition members argue Hydro-Québec is a state corporation whose benefits are supposed to be passed directly to citizens, preferably in the guise of lower rates. Shifting the profits to deficit reduction is akin to a hidden tax, they say, and Hydro-Québec is running more like a profit-driven private corporation.
“Paying down the deficit is a good thing, but not on the backs of consumers paying for an essential service,” Zamprelli said.
Members also complain that the provincial energy board sets rate hikes as well as profit margins the utility company is supposed to follow, but nothing is done when Hydro-Québec repeatedly surpasses those margins.