The 4.8 % increase required by Hydro-Québec also targets schools and hospitals

In the price request for the years 2026 to 2028 filed Thursday by Hydro-Québec before the Régie de l’énergie, the Crown corporation intends to increase the prices of all its commercial and industrial customers by 4.8 % per year for the next three years.

With regard to public establishments, including schools and hospitals, it will also be 4.8 %, confirmed the corporate company in a press point on Thursday.

They are in our category of customers called “commercial”. For the institutional, it is 4.8 % that applies for the three yearssaid Dave Rhéaume, Vice-President Director, Commercial Activities, and Chief Relations with Customers.

Residential customers, they are increased by 3 % per year under the law which caps the annual electricity increases for households at 3 %. Hydro-Québec estimates the impact of this increase on average at $ 2.40 per month for housing of five rooms and $ 6.70 for a medium-sized house.

Public establishments and companies

However, schools and especially hospitals are recognized as large consumers of energy particularly vulnerable to budgetary turbulence.

According to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian hospitals generate higher energy intensity than all other activities in the commercial and institutional sector, with the exception of food and drinks stores.

Their energy consumption is essentially linked to the use of ventilation systems and specialized medical equipment, in addition to the important areas that they have to heat and light up, not to mention hot water. Although they consume less than hospitals, schools are also particularly energy -consuming establishments.

It is therefore a safe bet that budgetary adjustments would be necessary in schools and in hospitals to absorb this new energy bill if the energy management should accept the request for hydro in its current form. Indeed, 4.8 % per year, it is more than 15 % increase composed over three years.

Ultimately, as these are public services, it is to Quebec taxpayers that the invoice will return.

Blow for PME and industry

Questioned about the discontent of owners of businesses, PME And industries that must also deal with American customs tariffs, Dave Rhéaume has put into perspective the importance of these increases.

It is costs that are essential and despite this, the prices in Quebec remain significantly lower than in other territories.

Louis Veilleux, president of the Mundial group, a subcontracting company specializing in metal, first welcomed these increases with frustration. I am a little angry because it is still the industrialists who pay and who are pointing outhe deplored.

However, he recognized that his business was doing it despite everythinghaving reduced its energy use to a minimum in the last two years.

The Director General of the Quebec City Council for Retail, Damien Silès said he was shocked by this announcement in the current economic context. This increase is huge […] Sales are at half mast, consumers are feverish with everything that happens with the United States and customs priceshe said.

It is certain that, for a company, having an increase in its costs is never what is desired, recognized Dave Rhéaume. However, it is an investment which, in our view, is absolutely essential to reach the full potential of Quebec while protecting the competitiveness of companies.

These are costs that reflect significant investments that Hydro-Québec has already started to improve customer service quality, invest in innovation, business performance and efficiencycontinued the chief of relations with customers at Hydro-Québec.

10,000 megawatts of more within 10 years

To cope with the growing anticipated demand for electricity consumption and the decarbonation of transport, Hydro-Québec launched an ambitious increase of 10,000 megawatts of its electricity production by 2035 while significantly reducing the number of breakdowns.

To achieve its objectives, the Crown Corporation will finally have to invest $ 200 billion by 2035, according to Dave Rhéaume.

In its price request, Hydro-Québec also undertakes to invest $ 2.5 billion from 2026 to 2028 to improve energy efficiency by helping individuals and businesses to consume less, in particular by helping them financially to acquire less energy-consuming devices or equipment.

This should allow the Crown corporation to recover megawatts which it can allocate to other sectors. Energy efficiency is three times cheaper than other sources of electricity supplywe recall at Hydro-Québec.

But all these measures will require a lot of investments.

For Pierre-Olivier Pineau, professor at HEC Montreal and holder of the energy management chair, sharing the burden of these investments is a most delicate exercise.

And the 3 % ceiling imposed by the Government of Quebec for the increase in household prices will not help, according to him, since it is the companies and the industry that will find themselves more requested by Hydro-Québec.

We knew that by investing a lot, Hydro-Québec should increase the prices, he explains. There are additional costs and if we cannot distribute the total amounts on all consumers, necessarily, consumers will end up with a larger share of the invoice and this is what we observe with the proposal of Hydro-Québec.

The energy management, which must study the price request of Hydro-Québec, must render its decision in March 2026. The new prices will come in in force on April 1.