Quarter marked by maintenance work on a transmission link dedicated to exportsHydro-Québec posts net income of $306 million for the second quarter

Lise Croteau, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hydro-Québec, today announces the company’s results for the second quarter of 2016.

Net income totaled $306 million. The variance with second-quarter net income for 2015, which amounted to $343 million, is due to a decrease in net electricity exports essentially resulting from the planned outage of one of the main export links between Québec and New England for maintenance purposes. “Had it not been for this outage, which was necessary to ensure the reliability of the transmission system, net income for the quarter would have been comparable to last year’s,” commented Lise Croteau.

Quarter highlights

• Markets outside Québec: Major scheduled maintenance work in April and May on the Radisson–Nicolet–Sandy Pond intertie led to an interruption of exports on this line.
-Exports resumed two weeks ahead of schedule, thus limiting the impact of the outage on net income.

• Québec market: Below-average temperatures resulted in a 0.9 TWh increase in electricity sales compared to 2015.
-April 2016: 2.7°C lower than normal

• Financing: The company issued medium-term notes totaling $1.0 billion and maturing in 2019.

On markets outside Québec, maintenance work on the Radisson–Nicolet–Sandy Pond intertie contributed to a $58 million decrease in Hydro-Québec Production’s net electricity exports compared to 2015. It should be noted that New England represents one of Hydro-Québec’s largest export markets and has some of the highest electricity prices in northeastern North America.

On the Québec market, heritage pool supplies provided by Hydro-Québec Production to Hydro-Québec Distribution increased by $25 million compared to the same period last year due to the impact of temperatures.

For the six months ended June 30, 2016, Hydro-Québec recorded net income of $1,890 million, compared to $2,133 million in the same period of 2015. On the Québec market, supplies provided by Hydro-Québec Production to Hydro-Québec Distribution decreased by $168 million, mainly as a result of first-quarter temperatures, which were much colder in 2015 than in 2016. On markets outside Québec, Hydro-Québec Production’s net electricity exports decreased by $79 million, notably on account of the maintenance work that led to the unavailability of the Radisson–Nicolet–Sandy Pond intertie for an eight-week period. However, the positive impact of the company’s risk management strategy mitigated the impact of lower energy market prices.

Finally, Hydro-Québec invested $1,462 million in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets in the first six months of 2016, compared to $1,478 million in 2015. Major projects under way include ongoing work to build and connect the Romaine hydroelectric complex and work on the 735 kV Chamouchouane–Bout-de-l’Île project.

For more information:

Geneviève Chouinard
Hydro-Québec
514 289-5005