Energy Minister feels Hydro-Qubec has the means to reduce its expenses [Video]

Quebec’s Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon feels that even if it has to plan billions in investments to reduce the number of blackouts and increase its production, Hydro-Québec is in a position to reduce certain expenses in order to contribute to a return to a balanced budget.

“There are always ways, I think, of cutting back, and that’s true everywhere in government,” said the minister at a news scrum in Montreal on Monday, as part of an event organised by Propulsion Montréal. “The budgetary effort requested would not jeopardise the investments planned by the state-owned company. It’s certain that at Hydro-Québec, considering the issues of spending on vegetation (cutting and pruning trees that risk causing a blackout), maintaining energy security, and new projects, we won’t jeopardise that.”

Earlier on Monday, Finance Minister Eric Girard also gave assurances that the requested budgetary effort would have no impact on the infrastructure investments that …