Quebecers break record for electricity consumption as cold snap grips province

The cold snap that has gripped Quebec may not have shattered temperature records but it has set new ones for energy consumption.

Residents of Quebec City awoke to a crisp29.6 C. It was slightly milder in Montreal, a mere25 C.

The record lows for this date were set decades ago,33.9 C in Quebec City and29.4 C in Montreal. But back then, energy demand was lower too.

By 8 a.m. Tuesday, Hydro-Qubec had registered a new record for power consumption in the province: 39,900 megawatts. The previous record of slightly more than 39,000 MW was set in January 2014.

"The cold plays an important role," said Hydro-Qubec spokesman Cendrix Bouchard. "We have to heat our homes and heating represents about half of the winter consumption."

Hydro-Qubec provides energy not only to Quebecers. It also has export contracts with Ontario and the U.S. and must honour them. Today it exported 2,000 MW to those two jurisdictions.

Conserving energy

Hydro-Qubec has signed up 160,000 clients to a flexible billing plan that allows them to pay less for energy as long as they use it during non-peak periods.

Some ski hills also reduced their opening hours, or closed down completely Tuesday. And Quebec's energy regulator, the Rgie de l'nergieforces crypto-currency mining operations to shut down on peak-demand days.

Hydro-Qubec says the highest consumption periods are between 6 a.m.-9 a.m. and 4 p.m.-8 p.m.