Hydro-Quebec awarded major, 20-year electricity deal from Massachusetts

MONTREAL – Quebec’s hydro utility has been awarded the biggest export contract in its history after the U.S. state of Massachusetts gave the nod of approval to the Northern Pass project.

Massachusetts officially selected Northern Pass on Thursday out of 40 submissions presented to the state last year.

The project, run by Hydro-Quebec and U.S. partner Eversource, would bring up to 9.45 terawatt hours of electricity per year from Quebec’s hydroelectric plants to Massachusetts.

The 20-year contract is expected to be signed in March and could generate up to $500 million in revenues for Hydro-Quebec per year.

In 2017, Hydro-Quebec’s exports represented $803 million of its $2.86-billion profit.

The project still needs to be approved by New Hampshire as well as by Canada’s National Energy Board.

“There were many projects on the table but (Northern Pass) stood out,” said Judith Judson, Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.