56 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 project The thedecade

Hydro- Québec JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 57 A $ 5 billion project to secure renewable energy for the province of Quebec involves the partial diversion of a river, a huge construction effort, and a sensitive approach to local people and their environment project of decade H ydro- Québec is the main generator, transmitter and distributor of electric power in the province of Quebec. With population continuing to grow in the cities of Montreal, Quebec and elsewhere, the demand for energy also continues to rise, and the state owned utility has a strategic plan to build new generating capacity to meet it. The construction of new hydroelectric plant, however, is a long term, expensive process, and often the best sources of water are in extremely remote areas with sensitive ecologies, not to mention a local population wary of having a construction site as a neighbor in their traditional lands.