The Legault government will give more powers to Hydro-Québec to carry out works on private land without having to ask permission from owners.
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Don't hesitate if Hydro-Québec employees come to your home with their tools to cut branches under electrical wires: the law already allows them to do this, and the government is preparing to strengthen it.
The bill introduced by Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon last week states that Hydro-Québec employees can “enter any building for certain purposes, such as carrying out preparatory work or clearing the premises of all plants, poles and wires of the electricity transmission or distribution network.”
This “clarification” is a request from the government institution, according to Minister Fitzgibbon's press secretary, Mathieu Saint-Amand.
“Hydro-Québec said it was legally complicated to control vegetation under its wires on private land,” he explained. “So we clarified the law to give them more powers.”
rejection
When called to outline the legal complexities involved, Hydro-Québec noted that it happens “sometimes” that its teams are unable to cut branches or trees that pose risks “due to the customer's refusal to access his property,” adding that this provision of the bill “will ensure the reliability of… the network”.
In fact, this problem was encountered in several municipalities in Istrí earlier this year. Hydro-Québec had to get permission from property owners to cut down trees on their land to solve power outage problems, but many of them were recalcitrant.
other details
The bill also states that Hydro employees would be able to go without a permit onto private lands to do work other than logging, that is, “to conduct inventories, surveys, examinations, analyzes or other preparatory work, and to install poles, conduits, wires and other devices necessary for the distribution of electricity.”
Remember that it is also the responsibility of the government company to “repair any damage that may be caused” by these interventions.
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