Quebec tops record for electricity consumption during cold snap

CAA-Québec overwhelmed by thousands of calls from drivers for boosts.

Quebec hit a record for electricity consumption during the height of the cold snap on Friday and almost broke the previous record again Saturday morning, forcing it to import extra power from Ontario and the United States.

Quebecers struggling to stay warm hit a consumption peak of 42,701 megawatts (MW) Friday at 5:30 p.m. as temperatures dipped to minus-26 C in Montreal, with a wind chill index of minus-41C.

On Saturday morning, as Environment Canada was recording a low of minus-29C in the city that felt like minus-43C with the wind, consumption in the province hit 40,305 MW, coming just short of the record of 40,500 MW reached in January 2022.

The usage went beyond Hydro-Québec’s estimates, which are based on predicted temperatures, as the mercury dropped even further than expected, Hydro-Québec spokesperson Jonathan Côté said. Heating homes and buildings makes up the bulk of energy consumption.

At its peak, the power utility had to import 1,200 MW from Ontario and New York State to keep up with demand. Although strained, the power grid was never at risk of being overwhelmed, Côté said.

Roughly 18,000 Hydro customers were without power Saturday morning and into mid-afternoon as the extreme cold caused equipment to break or malfunction. The outages were spread throughout the province, with Montreal recording the largest number of affected households — 6,106 as of Saturday afternoon. Most of the outages were predicted to be fixed quickly, Côté said.

Hydro-Québec had asked households to limit consumption to reduce pressure on the power grid by turning down the heat and putting off doing laundry and running the dishwasher on Friday evening and Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon it said the need for those restrictions had passed.

Dynamic pricing for residential and industrial customers, who receive rebates on their power bills for lowering usage during peak hours, saved about 2,600 MW of power.

For those seeking to jumpstart their frozen cars, CAA-Québec said it was unable to offer its usual roadside assistance services because of the high number of calls. The company’s mobile application and website were unable to process requests for roadside assistance on Saturday, and callers to its phone line were advised to call their local garage for aid. The company said it would reimburse drivers who had to go to outside sources for assistance.

CAA-Québec told Radio-Canada they had received 7,200 calls on Friday, and expected more than 10,000 calls Saturday.

The city of Montreal announced this week it was opening two new emergency warming sites in the Ville-Marie and Plateau-Mont-Royal boroughs to aid overwhelmed homeless shelters on the weekend. The sites, which were open from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m., had a capacity of 50 people each, although organizers said more would be admitted if places were needed.

On Friday night, 61 people used the downtown warming site located at the YMCA on Stanley St., and another three people used the temporary shelter in the Plateau. In addition to the temporary sites, there are 1,623 beds available at emergency shelters in the city, spokesperson Guillaume Rivest said.

The Old Brewery Mission runs a shuttle bus that tours the city until 11 p.m. to pick up anyone in need of shelter. At the same time, Montreal police who are aware of areas in which those without shelter often congregate keep an eye out for those in need. Citizens who spot anyone who appears to be in need are asked to call 911 so that help can be sent, police spokesperson Caroline Chevrefils said.

At the same time, police and public transit workers and security are asked to show “greater tolerance” to those seeking refuge in métro stations, although they are not being left open throughout the night. Keeping stations open overnight is only done on an exceptional basis, on the recommendation of a committee composed of city officials, community organizations and the regional health board.

There were no reports of fatalities linked to the cold on Friday night, Chevrefils said.

rbruemmer@postmedia.com

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