Premier Legault not too long ago stated he’d mitigate fee hikes scheduled for 2023. American regulators need charges to be established by impartial our bodies.
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Provincial authorities legal professionals are inspecting the potential dangers posed by the choice by the Legault authorities to repair the charges for Hydro-Québec electrical energy gross sales to the USA, Quebec vitality minister Jonatan Julien stated on Wednesday.
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The minister advised a legislative committee that the evaluation was being carried out after he was requested by the opposition Parti Québécois whether or not the province’s resolution may contravene laws in American markets and even compromise negotiations on export contracts.
Quebec Premier François Legault has not too long ago urged that the federal government may mitigate fee hikes scheduled for 2023 in an effort to preserve them from matching the surging inflation fee. The CAQ authorities in 2019 adopted a legislation that the province’s Vitality Board would now not management Hydro-Québec fee will increase, leaving these will increase to be decided by the extent of inflation.
Nevertheless American regulators require electrical energy charges to be established by impartial our bodies such because the Quebec Vitality Board.
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On Wednesday, PQ MNA Sylvain Gaudreault reminded the committee that for the North American Electrical Reliability Company, “independence from politics within the setting of (energy) charges is extraordinarily vital to ensure the soundness of markets.”
Gaudreault requested Julien if Quebec’s coverage may affect energy contract negotiations with the states of New York and Massachusetts.
The minister replied that he was working “to indicate the independence of the method” of setting electrical energy charges, including that legal professionals from his ministry in addition to these from Hydro-Québec had been inspecting the problem.
“We’ll be certain that there isn’t a concern regarding regulatory necessities,” he stated.
Julien additionally recommend that the 2019 laws – which was solely adopted after the federal government invoked closure – could possibly be modified to repair the ceiling on fee will increase at 3 per cent.
In accordance with a report in Le Devoir, such an modification could possibly be tabled earlier than the present session of the Nationwide Meeting ends in June.