|
Hydro-Québec〔By law, the name of the company is spelled Hydro-Québec in English as well as in French. See 〕 is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company oversees generation, transmission and distribution of electricity for all of Quebec. Relying almost exclusively on its sixty hydroelectric generating stations, Hydro-Québec is the largest electricity generator in Canada and the world's largest hydroelectric producer. As of 2011, the combined capacity of its power stations was and its distribution network served 4.11 million customers. The development of several large-scale hydroelectric projects which took place non-stop from the late 1940s to the mid-1990s — the Bersimis, Carillon, Manic-Outardes, Churchill Falls and the two phases of the James Bay Project — allowed Quebec to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. In 2009, primary electricity accounted for 40.05% of all energy used in the province. However, the construction and operation of these projects has led to conflicts with aboriginal populations living in Quebec's North. Hydro-Québec has played a "nearly mythical role" in Quebec's economic development since its establishment, with its sustained capital investments, by fostering local engineering expertise and by its capacity to generate large quantities of renewable electricity at low prices. The increasing demand for competitively priced renewable electricity fostered by the fight against climate change had a positive impact on Hydro-Québec's balance sheet in the last decade. Between 2008 and 2012, the company paid C$8.9 billion in dividends to its sole shareholder, the Government of Québec, while keeping Quebec retail power rates among the lowest in North America. == History == (詳細はGreat Depression, voices were raised in Quebec asking for a government takeover in the electricity business. Many of the criticisms leveled at the so-called "electricity trust" focused on high rates and excessive profits. Inspired by the example of Adam Beck, who had nationalized much of the electric sector in Ontario 30 years earlier and by the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority by the Roosevelt administration in the United States, local politicians, such as Philippe Hamel and Télesphore-Damien Bouchard, strongly advocated moving Quebec towards a similar system. Soon after being elected Premier of Quebec in 1939, Adélard Godbout warmed to the concept of a state-owned utility. Godbout was outraged by the inefficient power system dominated by Anglo-Canadian economic interests and the collusion between the Montreal Light, Heat & Power (MLH&P) and the Shawinigan Water & Power Company, the two main companies involved. At one point, he even called the duopoly an "economic dictatorship, crooked and vicious". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hydro-Québec」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|