Hydro-Québec delivered more than one million megawatt-hours of power to three U.S. energy companies in January and February – some US$50-million worth of power — that those utilities haven’t paid for.
A potentially explosive legal battle has flared up between Hydro-Québec and utilities in the U.S. after the Canadian hydropower producer suspended deliveries of electricity to the region during an extreme cold spell last winter.
Three electric utilities in Massachusetts – Eversource, National Grid and Unitil – filed a lawsuit against Hydro-Québec in U.S. federal court Sept. 8 over its decision to stop sending clean energy south over two periods totalling 12 days this past January and February. Hydro-Québec has countersued, claiming non-payment after talks between the two sides failed to yield a resolution.
Deliveries were halted a little more than a week after they started under a 20-year supply contract between the utilities and the provincial Crown corporation, one of the world’s biggest producers of hydroelectricity. Quebec was dealing with its own cold snap at the time.
The Globe and Mail: Hydro-Québec, U.S. utilities lock horns over non-payment after deliveries temporarily halted last winter