Hydro Quebec rate change okays air conditioners in northern Quebec
By Dene Moore
There is a bit of a run these days on air conditioners in Arctic Quebec.
Earlier this year the provincial energy board approved a change to prohibitive electricity rates that northern residents say amounted to a ban on the use of air conditioners.
And none too soon, says Larry Watt, mayor of Kuujjuaq, located about 1,500 kilometres north of Montreal on Ungava Bay.
``It does get pretty hot here, even though we're in the Far North,'' Watt said in a recent interview. ``Last June or May we reached up to 31 degrees for almost a week.''
During a recent heat wave in Quebec, the temperature in Kuujjuaq reached 24 C, a sweltering contrast to the chilly northern winter.
But communities in the region rely on diesel-generated power so Hydro-Quebec has a ``dissuasive rate'' to discourage users from using the expensive energy for home heating. The 14 affected communities in the Inuit territory of Nunavik use heating oil, instead.
``It's not a ban,'' says Mathieu Boucher, a spokesman for Hydro-Quebec in the region.``In Nunavik we supply electricity with small diesel power plants so it's not logical and it's not a good use of energy to produce electricity from diesel fuel and then heat with that electricity.''
The rate was also applied to air conditioning.
Boucher said the provincial utility had requests from several customers to lower the rate for air conditioning units and the provincial energy board approved the change earlier this year.
``It was logical,'' Boucher said. ``In an office or a school or a hospital, we don't want people to be uncomfortable.''
The Kuujjuaq town council has purchased 10 air conditioning units for the town office and convention centre, but the change applies only to commercial users. The higher rate still applies to air conditioning for residential customers.
``We don't expect a big leap in energy demand,'' Boucher said.
Some northern residents blame global warming for the need for air conditioning at all.
``When you look back 20 years, it gets really hot a lot earlier,'' Watt said. ``When I was growing up I didn't notice these kind of temperatures back then.''
According to Environment Canada, there were some warm spells in Arctic Quebec last summer.
``But is that enough to buy an air conditioning system? I don't know,'' said Rene Heroux, a climatologist with Environment Canada.
Climate change is more evident in northern latitudes, Heroux said.
``But it means only warm spells, a few degrees, and every now and then a peak at 30 degrees,'' he said. ``When they've got 30 degrees it's something really unusual.''
There isn't likely to be a run on air conditioners in Kangiqsujuaq, 450 kilometres north of Kuujjuaq on the northernmost tip of Quebec.
``I don't think so,'' said Mayor Mary Pilurtuut.
``It's not that warm here in the summer.
``Sometimes, for a couple of days we'll have 22 degrees. That's the hottest.''
And that's not worth the cost of an air conditioner, she said.