Quebec’s hydro company is proposing a significant increase in electricity rates for data centers and cryptocurrency activities. Hydro-Québec has requested the provincial energy board to raise rates for new data centers to 13 cents per kilowatt hour, which is around twice the current rate for high-power customers. Existing data centers will experience a gradual transition to the new rate over a five-year period, as stated in a recent press release by the publicly-owned utility.
The proposed new rate will be applicable to data centers consuming more than 5 megawatts annually and is expected to be implemented in the latter half of 2026 upon regulatory approval. Additionally, Hydro-Québec seeks a price hike over three years for blockchain and cryptocurrency operations to 19.5 cents per kilowatt hour to better align with the energy-intensive nature of these activities and their limited economic benefits.
The utility justifies these changes as necessary to ensure that data centers and cryptocurrency operations bear the costs of their substantial electricity consumption while still enjoying competitive pricing. The revised rates aim to enable Quebec to fully leverage its energy resources, especially given the projected sevenfold growth in data center electricity usage to over 1,000 megawatts by 2035.