Quebecers may be facing more blackouts this winter because Hydro-Quebec hasn’t ensured adequate maintenance during the ongoing strike of 14,000 Hydro employees, according to Hydro’s unions.
Inspections and maintenance are not being done because they want to keep the same level of exports,” said union spokesman Charles Paradis.
Paradis said Hydro-Quebec normally takes about 8,000 megawatts off-line – almost a third of its production – for two months each summer to do maintenance and inspections.
But this summer, that’s not happening, Paradis told The Nation. The reason, he said, is Hydro-Quebec insists on exporting a large amount of power – 4,500 MW – outside the province, mostly to the U.S.
On the other hand, Hydro’s striking employees are refusing to do anything but essential services. This means they are making sure that Quebecers are getting electricity, but they don’t want to help Hydro export power.
The demand in Quebec in the summer is 20-21,000 MW. And Hydro’s total capacity is 30,000 MW. So because Hydro is insisting on exporting 4,500 MW, it doesn’t leave much to take off-line for routine maintenance. For Paradis, it all adds up to black-outs this winter.
Hydro spokeswoman Renée Arsenault didn’t return calls. In a Montreal Gazette story, she denied Paradis’s claim that Hydro hasn’t ensured adequate upkeep.
This month, Hydro was plagued by black-outs, raising still more questions about its system. A wild storm left 600,000 customers without power. A week later, another 145,000 customers lost power because of an equipment failure. Hydro was accused of failing to communicate with municipalities and emergency officials.
