Hydro-Québec System Planning, Operations, Project Assessment, and US Exports
Great Whale Project (1989-1994)
Submitted evidence and testified before various regulatory and legal bodies in the US and Canada on behalf of the Grand Council of the Crees (of Québec) and/or a coalition of environmental groups to assess the economic and environmental impacts of the proposed 3160 MW Great Whale Project, as well as the long-term US export contracts based on the project.
TGG’s wide-ranging efforts were instrumental in Hydro-Québec’s eventual cancellation of the Great Whale Project. Key interventions included:
- Submitting evidence between 1989 and 1991, before the Vermont Public Service Board, including a review of a proposed thirty year, 450 MW purchase by twenty-four Vermont utilities of Hydro-Québec power derived from the development of the Great Whale Project; and an analysis of planning and operation of Hydro-Québec power supply and modeling of hydro reservoir levels.
- Testifying in 1991 before the State of Vermont Supreme Court regarding the same 450 MW purchase and providing a summary of changes concerning load forecasts and supply-side alternatives and an analysis of the cost effectiveness of the contract.
- Submitting an analysis of the nexus between New York Power Authority purchases and the construction of specific Hydro-Québec facilities (notably Great Whale), as well as the operation of fossil fuel electric generation before the State of New York Supreme Court in 1990.
- Presenting a review of Hydro-Québec’s proposed export contracts to Vermont (450 MW) and New York State (1000 MW) before Canada’s National Energy Board in 1990.
- Analyzing confidential risk-sharing electric supply contracts between Hydro-Québec and large industrial customers, including an assessment of the resulting implications for Hydro-Québec and its ratepayers in 1991.
- Submitting evidence in 1992 for the Canadian and Québec governments’ Environmental Review of the Great Whale Project including a discussion of changes in the utility industry and new supply resource options affecting design alternatives included in an environmental review.
- Assessing an 800 MW seasonal diversity contract in the context of the 1994 energy market before the State of New York Assembly Standing Committees on Energy and Conservation.
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