Hydro-Québec reports lower first-half net income

Hydro Quebec file photo. (Daniel J. Rowe/CTV News)

Lower electricity sales outside the province in the first six months of 2024 dealt a blow to Hydro-Québec's net income, which totalled $1.84 billion for the period compared with $2.68 billion at the same time last year.

Maxime Aucoin, executive vice president of strategy and finance at Hydro-Québec, said that these results were expected, given the company's "strategy of prudent management of energy reserves required by the low-water cycle."

"This was reflected in our lower electricity sales on external markets compared with the same period in 2023. We observed runoff levels close to historical averages throughout the territory," he said in a news release.

Sales outside Quebec totalled $707 million in the first half.

This compares with $1.6 billion during the same period last year, when "average prices on export markets reached unprecedented levels," the state-owned company pointed out.

On the Quebec market, however, sales were up, despite the fact that the winter of 2023-2024 was marked by milder temperatures than last year's winter season.

The energy producer and distributor recorded revenues of $7.35 billion in Quebec. Rate indexation and an increase in residential and commercial demand contributed to a better performance than in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 23, 2024.