we are back and this week is energy week for climate week NC we're talking about some of those interesting Innovations and changes and impactful activities that are taking place in the world of energy and I'm really excited to be joined by Serge from hyra Quebec who we've worked with for many many years to talk to us not just about some things that are happening in the future but some things that are happening now today and serge thank you so much for joining me today I'm going to throw you straight into this and ask what who are Hydra Quebec what are you doing what are your plans for now what are your plans for the future Hydro Quebec is the biggest renewable energy generator in North America we generate power for Quebec so 4.5 million customers but we also generate power for our export markets around us so this is New York state New England this is all renewable Hydro power and and so just about three years ago Governor W announced this this wonderful project Champlain Hudson power Express that was to deliver power from the Canadian border all the way to New York City the equivalent of a million homes and because it's Renewable Power it will displace fossil fuel generation in the city the equivalent of 500,000 cars half the cars in New York City and so as we stand today three years later the measure of success this project is under construction we're about halfway through and it's going well it's on schedule for May 2 six so that's that's something we're really proud of and that it makes we're making it I think we're going to be making a difference one of the things I'm always amazed by is the fact that you know there are communities not far from where I am right now who are currently breathing polluted air off the back of this fossil fuel power generation that are going to have Hydro power powering their homes shortly and what amazing impact that's going to have on people's on the lives of our communi so that's fantastic work I I'd love to ask a bit more about that Community Front because this is a humongous piece of construction going from the Canadian border right down through to New York City I imagine you must work with a lot of different communities a lot of groups along that line could you talk to us a little bit more about how you engage those different communities and how you involved them in this massive project that you're running sure to to your point Adam this is 375 miles from one end to the other so this massive infrastructure of underground hbdc cable so once it's you don't see it however as you go through the communities You're Building you're impacting their daily lives with this construction that's reality of building renewable infrastructure you you impact people's lives and so Community Support is really key to getting these massive projects done and and I would say you know it our community support that we got from all the communities La this route all the way from the north the Mohawk of the Mohawk community of ghwag Grand Chief skyer when she signed a partnership agreement she her community is an equity partner this project that you know that and the supportive groups all the way down to the city and aoria queens that that got involved which with which whom we have pro programs I think of the laundry program where we bring laundry services to disadvantaged communities so that increases attendance you think of all these initiatives that made a critical difference in achieving this project so you know I would say that changing the way you work and as a utility recognizing past rounds you know things evolve we in modern times we we have to evolve with it and just bringing value back to communities is definitely a an essential uh part of accomplishing these transformational projects and and we hear these terms sort of green economy green jobs we we we hear them a lot I guess you're right at the front line there tell me a bit more about that process of how do you make sure people have the right skills how do you make sure you've got the right people on site ready to work and ready to make these things happen well you know if you I I if you you look at the challenge of everything that needs to be deployed we have increasing energy demand that's that's both in Canada but in the US as well we hear the same thing everywhere it's demand from Economic Development you hear about artificial intelligence data centers and so on you know in in Canada we have battery factories those are all essential to to achieving the transition on top of that you're electrifying everything so you need to build out a lot of infrastructure yes there is efficiency it's a key part of it is a critical part of it but you need all the rest and so having access to that labor is critical getting involved in there with the shine plan Hudson we have this program it's a green economy fund it's a $40 million fund that's there to ensure that with the help of an Advisory Board comprised of volunteers throughout the state that we are spending money about $2 million a year through the different jurisdictions in order to create green economy jobs and disadvantage communities bring green job training not just for this project because I mean the project you you know 6 we're done it's built but for years afterwards so not thinking transactionally but thinking how do we invest back in society as we're undertaking this this massive project of of transitioning is a real opportunity when you think of it to create these jobs to create the skill sets and to bring value to people that otherwise would never had a chance and i' I must say I've personally met with and seen a number of these different communities that you're talking about there they've been involved in climate week NYC and other things so that the impact is real and I'm really excited when you turn on that switch I don't know if you're having a big switch in 2026 but I definitely want to be there when it happens um one of the questions I also want to ask you is there are a lot of freak weather events happening around the world and that can have a huge impact on this sort of infrastructure so whilst these projects are helping take emissions out of the air to help combat climate change there is a risk that natural disasters might impact your ability to sort of create power is is that an issue is that something that you have to focus on whether it's water availability or other environmental factors you have I mean the water question has come up quite a bit and it's it's a fair point when as a hydro operator and that's the same for others across the country that we are very very cautious in the way we manage our water and flows and so you have good years you have bad years you have a job and you manage conservatively in order to always meet your firm commitments in our case firm commitments is our clientele in Quebec and our firm contracts our long-term contracts with New York so those are firm commitments and we'll make sure that we meet these commitments and then if we have extra then we'll export more on some of the markets and so on so this is followed and it's managed very cautiously but when you look at long-term impact what are precipitation northern areas of Quebec and the region here will increase with climate change this is what the science tells us we're looking at about six to eight per. doesn't mean that climate change is is not going to impact this we have climate events you guys see them we see them everywhere it our clients at the end it comes back to people in their homes it's it's it's it's the clients that I call them the clients but it's really the the the people that use electricity they're the ones that that are impacted by this so it's our responsibility to make sure that we update our infrastructure that we invest that that we make our grid more robust we've had increasing outages in Quebec for for now last few years because of these events these climate events and so we need to step up there we're investing we're ramping up because you need to meet the the expectations of of your your customers if not you're going to lose your customers we're not going to be going to be able to achieve the transition either one of the things I like a lot about this project as well is is the ambition of it I mean I've seen the cable it's this thick and you it's like 300 and something miles of it there's huge ambition here but it's also showing that you don't need to have a massive River massive Dam near where you live to get the benefits of our Hydro power by creating this I I wonder looking ahead into the future when you're look looking at hyro as part of the energy mix are there any lessons that you've learned from this experience and and what what role do you think hyro does play in that Future Energy mix which is just such an important thing for us all I I I think to me you know rethinking how we use renewable energy sources they're all different and this is something that's maybe little or not very well understood but you have intermittent resources so wind solar they're not always on but they're very valuable and how HD power one of the the attributes of hydrop power is that especially Reservoir Hydro that you can hold water back call it a giant battery it's a long duration storage and you can dispatch that power when you need it where it's need so when you think of these two sources that we just mentioned and you you bundle them together then then you've got a really interesting mix because you can do so much more with your hydrop power Hydro power should not be base load 247 but as we look to the Future as we have more and more intimate Renewables we should make better use of it we should use it strategically where it's needed when it's needed to balance out intermittent Renewables and I have this two-way trade relationships with neighboring jurisdiction clean energy is a very precious uh commodity and should be able to to flow from one region to another according to who has it brilliant and and I find it funny that the year that this project was was announced by Governor hok at the opening ceremony of climate week NYC our strapl line was getting it done and we're always saying this project is a great example of getting it done our strap line this year is its time and it sounds like it's time is the right strap line for this project too because you're getting everything in place this has been a really great conversation and I really appreciate it and of course you're going to be there at Cent week NYC we can find out so much more about this project and the impact it's going to have um but we could speak all day but we've run out of time for now so I just love to say Serge it's been great working with you been great working with Hydro Quebec thank you so much for joining us in this energy week and I look forward to speaking to you again soon Adam great talking to you thank you for having me