In the spring of 2022, Hydro-Québec consulted regional stakeholders to hear their opinions on electricity needs and sensitive elements in the environment and explain how it carries out its projects. The consultation highlighted the need to further involve the community to benefit from its knowledge of the territory and give people the chance to express their comments and concerns earlier.
This is why Hydro-Québec is committed to maintaining ongoing discussions with host communities at each stage of the project.
The electricity supply in your area comes mainly from the 735/120-kV Montérégie substation located in Sainte-Cécile-de-Milton. This substation supplies lines and other substations, including the 120/25-kV Casavant and Sainte-Rosalie substations located in Saint-Hyacinthe, which are currently operating at the limit of their capacity during peak periods. In the short term, Hydro-Québec must reinforce the supply to Sainte-Rosalie substation so that it can reduce the load at Casavant substation and meet future needs.
The 49-kV lines are currently operating at maximum capacity. They could be compared to a country road for a region that needs a highway to accommodate all the vehicles circulating there. The 49-kV voltage level is being progressively phased out. However, work to maintain these lines in good condition is continuing.
Hydro-Québec is in the process of evaluating whether maintaining them will still be useful once the new 120-kV line has been built.
In order to assess the impacts of a project, Hydro-Québec has for many years used its Environmental Assessment Methodologies – Transmission Lines and Substations, which involves a rigorous process to determine which project has the least impact by identifying what the impacts are and assessing their intensity.
Hydro-Québec also uses specialized methods, such as those that apply to landscapes, forests and farmlands.
Mitigation measures depend on expected impacts. It is still too early to determine which measures will apply. With the experience it has acquired in other projects, Hydro-Québec has the means to apply, at the appropriate time, mitigation measures that minimize the impacts related to the construction or the presence of its equipment.
Less than 1% of Hydro-Québec’s power transmission system is underground, or about 200 km out of a total of over 35,000 km of transmission lines.
An underground line generally costs more to build than an overhead line given the high price of the insulated cable and scope of the work to be carried out.
Underground projects also generate environmental impacts (construction and residual impacts) on the natural environments they cross (e.g., sensitive areas, waterways, specific construction, etc.).
Undergrounding a line remains the exception around the world and is only done where the distance to cover is short, such as in the downtown cores of large cities where space is lacking or an overhead line is blocked by an impassible obstacle.
Yes, an IEP applies when Hydro-Québec builds a new 120-kV overhead transmission line. Since October 1, 2018, the funds allocated have been based on the number of kilometres of power line or the number of square metres of ground surface area covered by the substations in the eligible organization’s territory. The amount granted to the municipalities hosting a project is proportional to the length of the chosen route.
The IEP makes funding available to carry out initiatives that improve community life. They can involve the environment; municipal, community or recreational infrastructures; or support for tourism or regional development.
Initiatives must meet four criteria: collective interest, public ownership, respect for the environment and sustainability.
Consultation is a time that Hydro-Québec sets aside to ask the people from involved communities for their opinions on a project that affects them.
Based on the expectations and concerns gathered, we can then modify and/or enhance a project to mitigate some of its impacts and ensure its harmonious integration into the host environment.
