Quebec’s energy needs are projected to rise. Here’s what that means for your hydro bill

Quebec is thirsty for electricity, and over the next 15 years, we're only going to get thirstier. So we'll need more to keep up with demand. Here's what you need to know. By 2041 energy needs will rise from 180 terawatt hours to 240 terawatt hours, an increase of 33% or a full third of the current demand. What will drive this need for more energy? Well Hydro says it's mainly because of more electric vehicles and more demand from the industrial sector. It's a moment in our history where we do have to to make some very big Big investments have. Tens of thousands of workers to actually, you know, work towards achieving this goal. So what does that look like? Well, take a look at this graph. That diagonal black line is the rising need for energy in Quebec. And that dark blue section at the bottom is the existing supply. Yeah, you likely understand the problem now. Hydro-Québec's plan to bring supply in line with demand has a lot of moving parts and a hefty price tag. If you look at 2041, we're looking at about $200 billion, which actually is all the money that will be required in order to build those new capacity, in order to be able to produce electricity, transport the electricity, and distribute the electricity to our customers. Hydro's new 15-year supply plan actually accounts for importing some energy when the need arises. The plan also calls for more energy efficiency, more wind power and solar panels. Hundreds of megawatts of new battery storage and higher capacity for some existing hydroelectric stations. We cannot build new dams. The only way to do that is by flooding territories, and we cannot flood much more territories. From an environmental point of view, social acceptability is not doable. And then there are the rates. Hydro-Québec wants to raise them on big energy users like data centers and cryptocurrency miners. And what about you at home? Well, the annual rate increases are already set through 2028. But Hydro says come 2029, the new investments could put pressure on the rates and lead to an increase.