Historical data on electricity production and consumption in Quebec

Hydro‑Québec data set on electricity production and distribution in Quebec. Updated annually, the data is sent to the Régie de l'Énergie du Québec after being audited. Each history covers every hour of every day of a year and reflects the significant volume of electricity that passes through the province's lines.

## Useful information for interpreting data
Excel files have the following three tabs:

* EC method (framework agreement): official calculation method.
* Proxy method: estimation method used to validate the EC method.
* Summary: an overview of the cumulative data on a monthly basis.

## Meaning of terms and abbreviations
* Stick: quantity of heritage electricity in megawatt hours.
* Distributor: Hydro‑Québec in its electricity distribution activities.
* Interruptible energy: Option offered to customers that helps the Distributor manage power demand.
* Heritage electricity: Maximum annual volume of 165 terawatt hours of electricity excluding losses (equivalent to 16.5 million kilowatt hours), which Hydro‑Québec has available for Quebec customers. This volume is established by the Act to amend the Energy Board Act adopted in 2000.
* HQD: Hydro‑Quebec Distribution. Name of the administrative unit that was replaced by group — Distribution, Procurement, and Shared Services in 2021.
* HQP: Hydro‑Quebec Production. Name of administrative unit that was replaced by group — Innovation, Production, Health, Safety and Environment in 2021.
* MWh: Megawatt hour.
* Producer: Hydro‑Québec in its electricity production activities.
* Interruptible power: Option offered to customers that helps the Producer manage the power demand.
* Integrated network: All of Hydro‑Québec's electrical networks interconnected either directly or through neighboring electrical networks.
* Third party: Electricity supplier.

## Label description
The files may contain textual data (e.g. Montreal), numerical data (e.g., 2021-05-21), or geometric data (e.g.: 46°48'44”), numerical data (e.g.: 46°48'44”). They are organized according to labels, which correspond to categories. Here are the labels with their description (Note that some labels include names that are no longer in force at Hydro‑Québec).

## EC method
* __Gross production of HQP power plants (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity obtained from the generators of the Producer's power plants and measured at their terminals.
* __Consumption of HQP power plants (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity used to ensure the operation of the Producer's power plants.
* __Electricity received by HQP at power plant connection points and interconnections (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity purchased by the Producer from other suppliers in Quebec and outside Quebec (interconnections).
* __Consumption attributable to the interruptible power made available to HQP plus transport losses (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity obtained from certain customers because the supply may be interrupted according to the conditions defined in the contracts. This quantity is adjusted according to the estimated losses incurred during the transport of electricity.
* __Volume of energy supplied by the Producer's resources (MWh) __: Sum of the volume of electricity produced and the volume of electricity received by the Producer without the consumption of the power plants.
* __Volume of the Producer's commitments to third parties (MWh) __: Volume of electricity exported by the Producer according to its contracts with third parties and sales to interconnection points.
* __Volume of electricity supplied by the Producer to the Distributor (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity that the Producer delivers to the Distributor, which represents the difference between the volume of energy supplied by its resources and the volume available to fulfill its commitments to third parties.
* __Volume of non-asset supplies from HQP (MWh) __: Volume of electricity delivered by the Producer under the wind integration service contract and all non-asset electricity supply contracts concluded by tender with the Distributor.
* __Volume of electricity mobilized by the Distributor as part of heritage electricity (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity corresponding to the difference between the volume of electricity supplied by the Producer to the Distributor and the volume of non-asset supplies from the Producer.
* __Volume of heritage electricity (affected sticks) (MWh) __: Quantity of heritage electricity whose use has been optimized by the Distributor to meet the regular needs of the integrated network.
* __Volume of electricity mobilized by the Distributor in excess of the heritage electricity (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity corresponding to the difference between the total volume and the volume of heritage electricity mobilized by the Distributor.

## Proxy method
* __BRD_RI (MWh) __: Regular needs of the Distributor to supply the integrated network. Quantity of electricity required to meet the needs of Quebec customers served by the integrated network, including that used to operate the network itself and that lost during transmission and distribution.
* __Long-term purchases + Interruptible Electricity (MWh) __: Sum of the volumes of energy obtained by non-heritage supplies (wind, biomass, small and large hydropower) and interruptible electricity options.
* __Short-term purchases__: Short-term purchase of electricity from individual suppliers or in neighboring markets.
* __BRD_RI (HQP) (MWh) __: Regular needs of the Distributor to supply the integrated network, but for which the Producer must assume the deliveries. BRD_RI (HQP) = BRD_RI — (long term purchases + short term purchases).
* __Power plant consumption (MWh) __: Quantity of electricity used to operate power plants.
* __Proxy to assess the volume of electricity mobilized by the Distributor as asset electricity (MWh) __: Estimation of the quantity of heritage electricity mobilized by the Distributor that corresponds to the BRD_RI HQP minus the consumption of the power plants.
* __Volume of heritage electricity (affected sticks) (MWh) __: Quantity of heritage electricity whose use has been optimized by the Distributor to meet the regular needs of the integrated network.

## Additional Information
* Geographic coverage: province of Quebec, except regions supplied by autonomous networks.
* Instructions and conditions of use: The data provided is raw, without guarantee of quality and may change without notice.

Organization: Government and Municipalities of Québec | Gouvernement et municipalités du Québec