Drill, renew or save?
COMMISSIOn calls province’s energy policy ruinous, urges more investment in public transit, efficiency
A report prepared for Natural Resources Minister Martine Ouellet shows Quebec has a hydroelectric surplus that it is forced to sell below cost. The report also urges the province to focus on more efficient use of the energy it has and to replace fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives, Monique Beaudin writes.
Even as Quebec is pushing ahead with oil and gas exploration on Anticosti Island, a commission it appointed to study Quebec’s energy future is saying the province has to put the brakes on fossil-fuel use.
With energy surpluses that the province is forced to sell far below the price it costs to produce, Quebec should be focusing on better using the energy it has and replacing heavy-polluting fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives, says a report presented to Natural Resources Minister Martine Ouellet.
The commission doesn’t rule out future oil and gas production in Quebec, because there is no way the province can stop using fossil fuels in the next 40 years. But if Quebec decides to go ahead, the commission says it should be tightly regulated and done in ways that will benefit Quebecers.
The two-person commission was appointed last July, ahead of the creation of anew energy policy that is expected “in the coming months,” according to Ouellet.
Roger Lanoue, HydroQuébec’s former head of strategic planning, and Université de Montréal professor Normand Mousseau held public consultations across the province last fall and received written submissions from hundreds of groups and people. They submitted their report to Ouellet in January.
They said three factors are forcing a major change in Quebec’s energy policy, last updated in 2006:
Two-thirds of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions come from energy production and consumption;
The North American energy market has been completely transformed by the boom in U.S. shale gas and oil production, which has driven down prices for Quebec’s hydroelectricity;
Quebec spends $15 billion per year to import oil and natural gas.
When it comes to energy use, Quebecers are among the biggest energy hogs on the planet — with each person using the equivalent of 15 litres of gasoline per day.
But the province is unique — while almost everywhere else electricity is produced using fossil fuels or nuclear energy, 99 per cent of the electricity produced in Quebec comes from renewable sources.
But Quebec is now losing money on hydroelectricity, the report says. The first 10 terawatt hours of electricity — equivalent to 10 trillion watts of power — are being exported at peak times at high prices, earning profits for Quebec. But the remaining electricity — about 20 terawatt hours in 2012 — is exported at low-demand times at an average price of 3 cents per kilowatt hour, far below its production cost of between 6 and 12 cents per kilowatt hour.
“This reality translates into an annual subsidy to electricity producers that will reach $1.2 billion in 2017, paid by electricity users and taxpayers,” the commissioners said.
Quebec’s current energy policy — with its emphasis on expanding electricity production through the construction of new dams, expanding wind and small hydropower production — is “ruinous” for the province, the commissioners said.
The commissioners argue Quebec would see more eco- nomic benefits from energyefficiency efforts than building new energy infrastructure. For example, investing in public transit would create as many jobs as building highways, and both industries and consumers would save money by conserving energy, they said.
“Taxpayers and energy consumers in all regions of Quebec will be the winners in this transformation,” the report said. “Our economy will use energy better, be more competitive, more modern and less dependant on imported fossil fuels.”
Among the commission’s recommendations:
Set a goal of reducing the use of petroleum products by 20 per cent by 2025 and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 75 per cent by 2050;
Immediately study the possibility of suspending phases 3 and 4 of the Romaine River hydroelectric project; stop or suspend wind, cogeneration and small-dam projects for infrastructure that has not yet been built;
Support TransCanada’s proposed west-east oil pipeline, but have the project studied by the province’s environmental-review board;
Support Enbridge’s proposed Line 9B oil pipeline-reversal project;
Tackle the problems of urban sprawl and improving public transit;
Update the provincial building code to improve the energy efficiency of buildings;
Support the construction of a natural-gas pipeline connection to the Gaz Métro network to replace polluting, expensive heating oil with natural gas.