Extreme cold: Hydro-Québec’s tips to help reduce the peak

Hydro-Québec expects electricity consumption on Friday and Saturday, February 3 and 4, could exceed the historic high of about 40,500 megawatts (MW) reached in January 2022. Across the province, extremely low temperatures will put buildings’ capacity to retain heat to the test, causing demand for heating to go up.

Winter peaks are the times when temperatures are the lowest, which causes an increased demand for electricity, mainly because of heating. Peak demand periods account for about a hundred of the 8760 hours in a year. To reduce pressure on the grid and lower imports of less clean electricity from neighboring systems, here are a few of the most effective measures you can take on Friday, February 3, from 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, February 4, from 6 a.m. to noon:

• Turn down the heat by one or two degrees Celsius, especially in rooms that aren’t in use.
• Use less hot water.
• Reduce the use of major appliances (especially dryers and dishwashers) or postpone their use.
• Sleep in on Saturday morning

We will be using all the means at our disposal to reduce demand, including dynamic pricing, Hilo challenges and reduction programs for SMEs and large industrial customers.

The reason behind measures to manage peak periods is to optimize the use of our resources and reduce the costs that must be assumed by the population as a whole. It would not be wise to significantly oversize the grid and our production capacity just to meet peak demand periods that occur for only a few dozen hours a year.

Hydro-Québec will join customers in limiting consumption by reducing heating and lighting in all of its buildings across Québec.

Note that through dynamic pricing and Hilo, Hydro-Québec renumerates customers for reduction efforts during peak periods. For more information:

Dynamic pricing
Hilo

To find out how to be energy wise: hydroquebec.com/residential/energy-wise/

Hydro-Québec sincerely thanks the population for its cooperation.