Hydro-Québec’s connection delays make its charging stations unusable for months throughout the province.
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Around 200 charging station connection files are pending at Hydro-Québec.
One of these projects is in Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, on route 155, halfway between Trois-Rivières and La Tuque.
“You can see the wires hanging in the air. It’s a bit of a ghost station, I think,” said the co-owner of the Proxi gas station, Patrick Duchesne.
LCN screenshot
Two months have passed since he set up his private charging station. It is still not connected to the Hydro-Québec network.
“It’s okay that there are delays. It’s normal. But long like that… For us, it’s business we’re losing. We are ready, we are ready to fire. This is a lack in the region [les bornes de recharge]. Then, we have to say that we are not connected with Hydro-Québec,” he lamented.
This $1 million investment was made in part thanks to a grant from the Quebec government. Patrick Duchesne is asked questions about his charging station every day by his customers.
LCN screenshot
“Every day or every other day, there are people who come to see me. “When is it going to go away? I have an electric car, when do you think I’ll be able to plug it in?” There are even people who come to the field and take the gun to plug in and unfortunately realize that there is no electricity,” he explained.
“What we want is for it to be profitable. Then, let it also be accessible for the citizen,” declared the businessman.
Hydro-Québec responds that the connection will be made “no later than January 8, 2025.” The arrival of winter, however, risks complicating the work that remains to be done at the station, namely landscaping, connection to the cable, cameras and lights. Mr. Duchesne is crossing his fingers that the connection will be made as soon as possible.
LCN screenshot
Average connection time?
Hydro-Québec confirms that it has 200 pending connection files for charging stations. The state company is not talking about a shortage of staff, but about “a high volume of connection requests which can cause additional delays.”
Strategic advisor Louis-Olivier Batty, however, refuses to quantify the average time. “In recent years, in recent months, it could take 12 or 18 months to be able to connect a new house or a new project. We are really trying to reduce this delay. In recent months, there have been improvements. It really depends on the nature of the project,” he said.
Since the TVA Nouvelles team asked questions about the connection times for the Saint-Roch de Mékinac station, in the last few days, a team showed up at the store on Wednesday to carry out part of the work at TO DO.
Quebec has set the target of two million electric vehicles on our roads by 2030.
