Quebecers must reduce their energy consumption by four times

To achieve carbon neutrality and enrich the nation, Quebecers will have to cut their energy consumption by four, warns Professor Pierre-Olivier Pinault.

Annual electricity consumption per capita in the residential sector now amounts to 8,000 kilowatt-hours. Professor Pierre-Olivier Pinault points out that a significant reduction in this consumption will be necessary to achieve more sustainable levels, in line with energy efficiency goals.

“Roughly speaking, we should divide our energy consumption per person by four […] This does not mean a lower standard of living. »

– Pierre Olivier Pinault, Energy expert at HEC

Photo by Maxime Deland/QMI Agency

In Quebec, each inhabitant consumes an average of 200 kilojoules, while the global average consumption must be 50 kilojoules to achieve carbon neutrality.

“This does not mean being less good, and it does not mean depriving yourself. It means doing things differently, adapting our behavior as when we exercise.

Moreover, one of the reasons he values ​​the Energy Minister, Pierre Fitzgibbon, is that he is the only minister to publicly assert that we should consume less.

Pay more

Mr. Pineau knows well that Quebeckers are not prepared, as in France, to make efforts for sobriety. The government must pave the way. He believes that people will have to start paying for unnecessary energy.

According to him, electricity should no longer be financed for people who earn more than $100,000 a year.

“Nearly 500,000 families earn $150,000 or more in Quebec and consume approximately 24,000 kilowatt-hours per year. This is twice as much as families earning $40,000,” he adds.

Residential customers who can install hot water systems to melt snow in their driveways to avoid shoveling, and who have spas, should not get a preferential rate, he says, adding that rates will have to increase.

“With what we are paying at the moment, it is mathematically impossible for Hydro-Quebec to invest $10 billion annually for ten years or more,” he noted.

“We cannot invest and then keep prices equal. Even a 3% increase will not help. These are more significant and more sustainable increases over the next 10 years that we will have to face.”

restoration

Mr. Pino highlights energy efficiency as a crucial element in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Investment in infrastructure is necessary to improve energy efficiency, but this requires government support and appropriate incentives.