IPPNY Response to Hydro-Québec Criticisms of Energyzt Study

The Independent Power Producers of New York, Inc. (“IPPNY”) is compelled to respond to a series of misleading and inflammatory statements made by Hydro-Québec in response to a study performed by Energyzt on behalf of IPPNY.

First and foremost, IPPNY is not “the fossil fuel industry.” IPPNY is an association of power producers who generate electricity using every available technology, including but not limited to solar, wind, nuclear and hydro, all forms of emissions free electricity generation that are no different than the generation HQ claims to be capable of selling over the Champlain Hudson Power Express (“CHPE”) transmission line. In fact, IPPNY represents companies that have been awarded contracts from New York State to develop in excess of 1,770 megawatts of renewable generation – more than 58% of the total awards granted as part of Tier 1 of the Clean Energy Standard.

Second, IPPNY does not contest that Hydro-Québec produces and provides renewable energy to markets where it displaces fossil generation, nor does the Energyzt report suggest as much. IPPNY does assert, and Hydro-Québec cannot refute, that sales of energy over CHPE will not reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. As demonstrated by the Energyzt report (specifically, pages 14-18), in order to sell energy to New York City over CHPE, Hydro-Québec will be forced to reduce existing sales of energy into other markets where those sales are already displacing fossil generation, such as in New Brunswick where the generation portfolio that is likely to replace the lost energy sales from Hydro-Québec is comprised of oil and coal. In other words, there is a limit to how much fossil generation can be displaced by sales of Hydro-Québec energy, and Hydro-Québec has already run up against that limit. Had Hydro-Québec bothered to read the Energyzt report before issuing its canned response, Hydro-Québec would see that the report’s findings take into account Hydro-Québec’s most recent claim that it will have available 40 million megawatt hours (i.e., 40 terawatt hours) of electricity for sale to other markets and reference Hydro-Québec’s November 1, 2019 press release (pg. 16, footnote 33). Hydro-Québec provides no analytical support for its claim and previously assumed 22.4 terawatt hours would be available for sale into neighboring markets (pg. 17, footnote 35).

Finally, Hydro-Québec suggests that fossil fuel use cannot increase in neighboring markets or Quebec because there are cap and trade programs and “commitments” to reduce emissions. Cap and trade programs that impose penalties on higher emitting generation and commitments to reduce emissions are not prohibitions against the use of fossil fuels to meet electric system reliability requirements.

To be clear, IPPNY is committed to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, which is why its members are actively developing thousands of megawatts of renewable and energy storage projects in New York. For Hydro-Québec to dismiss the findings of Energyzt’s report (which are based on Hydro-Québec's data) without being transparent about its own analysis that would supposedly dispute the facts those findings are based on, is lazy at best and disingenuous at worst.