JAWS ! episode 3

Another ”golden egg” laid by COP29 ... ”You’ll freeze to death, but you’ll die virtuous...”

Note : The following describes the situation in Quebec/Canada but applies to Europe.

The gas ban, an energy suicide?

By Léo Dupire | Opinions. - Friday, November 22, 2024, at 10:10

Source : https://libre-media.com/articles/linterdiction-du-gaz-un-suicide-energetique?

The Legault government is jeopardizing our economy by banning natural gas in new buildings. This could drive up bills, weaken regions and cause massive power outages by overloading the grid.

While Quebec is facing major energy and economic challenges, the Legault government has chosen to ban natural gas in new buildings.

This decision, taken as part of COP29, risks weakening our economy, causing our electricity bills to explode and jeopardizing our energy security.

A fatal blow for our industries

Our electricity surplus will end around 2027, and this upcoming electricity shortage is already part of businesses' plans. Energy-intensive sectors, such as metallurgy, risk losing their competitiveness to international competitors who benefit from reliable and affordable energy sources.

Result? Massive job losses. Investors are hesitant to set up in a territory where the energy supply is becoming uncertain. By gradually banning natural gas, Quebec finds itself artificially stimulating demand for electricity and worsening the shortage.

The Legault government, so quick to boast about its defense of the regions, must understand that they are the ones who will bear the brunt of this irresponsible decision.

Quebecers strangled

Do you think your electricity bill is high today? Wait until the government puts its plan into action. By forcing Quebecers to switch to electricity for everything, including heating, demand on the Hydro-Québec network will reach new heights. But supply will not follow.

Hydro-Québec itself sounded the alarm when Montreal announced its plan to ban gas in new buildings earlier this year.

The Crown corporation warned that it would not be able to meet the increased demand, particularly in winter, when the grid is already overloaded. Yet the CAQ is choosing to ignore this warning and impose this unrealistic measure on the entire province.

We see regular power outages in other advanced economies that have chosen to sacrifice their energy security in the name of virtue signaling.

Hydroelectric projects take years to complete, and the energy transition has not provided quick fixes. To compensate, Hydro-Québec will have to import electricity at high prices and invest in new, expensive power plants.

Who will foot the bill? The entire population, of course.

According to some projections, residential rates could increase “by 5.6% to 9% [per year] starting in 2028, far exceeding the 3% promised by the government.”

Low-income families, already crushed by the cost of living crisis, simply cannot afford another major increase in their fixed costs.

This explosion in rates will also affect small businesses, which will see their margins reduced and their prices increase, fueling an inflationary spiral.

Power outages in the middle of winter?

Every winter, when temperatures drop, Quebec’s electricity grid is pushed to its limits. Electric heating systems, already ubiquitous in our homes, represent a massive load during peak periods.

Eliminating natural gas, a reliable and decentralized energy source, is making an already pressing problem worse. This is why Hydro until very recently touted dual energy, which allows consumers to save electricity (and money) by heating with gas in cold weather.

The Crown corporation has made it clear: if Montreal bans gas in its new buildings, the network will not be able to support the increase in winter demand. Extending this measure to the entire territory of Quebec, as the CAQ wants, amounts to planning massive power outages in the near future.

Imagine a Quebec where, at -30°C, the lights, stoves and radiators go out because the network is overloaded. This scenario, once improbable, is becoming more and more plausible. Already, the former Minister of Energy advised Quebecers to do the dishes at midnight in the name of “energy sobriety”!

We also see regular power outages in other advanced economies that have chosen to sacrifice their energy security on the altar of virtue signaling, such as Germany or California.

Such outages would not only affect the comfort of homes. They would jeopardize essential services: hospitals, schools, and transportation infrastructure.

If a storm or major outage occurs in the middle of winter, and everything depends on electricity, the consequences could be catastrophic, even putting lives in danger.

Another approach is possible

Natural gas does not deserve to be “demonized,” as Pierre-Olivier Pineau, an expert who takes the energy transition very seriously, pointed out a few months ago. For this holder of the HEC Montréal energy chair, it would be “unwise to bet on 100% electric, with the outages and climate events that we know about, and find ourselves in ten years with no other option.”

Gas must therefore be seen as a complementary solution that is part of a reasoned transition process. This energy source could, for example, replace part of the diesel used by the commercial vehicle fleet in Quebec, reducing GHG emissions and harmful pollutants.

And if this gas were extracted locally, this conversion would be all the more interesting from an environmental point of view; after all, buying local is good for the planet.

As the Montreal Economic Institute reported in 2020, at “the current rate of consumption, Quebec would have sufficient reserves for at least 40 years.”

More than ever, we need a serious public debate based on facts and not ideology. The Legault government must reverse its decision before it is too late. Quebec’s future depends on balanced energy choices that take into account our economic needs, environmental reality and the capacity of our infrastructure.

Québec FIER will continue to denounce these irresponsible policies and propose concrete solutions for a sustainable and realistic energy future. We will not remain silent in the face of this energy suicide.