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The provincial government has decided to upgrade two of its current regulations (the Regulation respecting the quantity of gas from renewable sources to be delivered by a distributor, and the Regulation respecting oil-fired heating appliances) to curtail the use of natural gas in buildings by 2040.

What does it mean for you, as a gas customer in the Outaouais?

Good news: nothing. You get to remain a gas customer and to keep enjoying the reliability of our system and the expertise of our technicians and installation partners.

Essentially, more and more gas from renewable sources will be injected into our system as a way of pursuing our efforts to decarbonize.

Did you know? At Enbridge Gaz Québec, we already offer you the option of allocating a percentage of your consumption to gas from renewable sources.

What does it mean for us at Enbridge Gaz Québec?

For the past few years, Enbridge Gaz Québec – formerly Gazifère – has been working to set up the future and anticipating solutions for tomorrow. Deeply committed to decarbonization, the company has already introduced several shifts in its activities – related to gas – and set in place a regional ecosystem project in that regard.

Those efforts have been recognized: given how far along it already was with these different renewable energy projects, Enbridge Gaz Québec obtained an exemption to pursue its efforts within its territory. The company’s decarbonization plan will be submitted to the Régie de l’Énergie in January 2025.

Solutions already under study in the area

From solar to geothermal, hydrogen and dual energy … and even heat recovery, Enbridge Gaz Québec has been exploring every option and brainstorming extensively to make the most of renewable energies already existing in the Outaouais. And what a lot of resources we have! You have probably already heard about some of them, such as the hydrogen project which was the subject of public consultations in February 2024! Those studies are being pursued with the aim of starting construction by 2026

Enbridge Gaz Québec also developed, along with Sunbird Energy, a smart energy management solution combining solar panels, storage batteries and EV charging stations, the very first three-pronged solution in Quebec.

Recently, the company announced it would soon be in a position to propose a dual energy offer to its residential customers! This new solution will make it possible to use gas as auxiliary energy – supplementing hydro – to alleviate the burden on the hydro grid in the winter months and contribute to the reduction of GHG.

For several years, we have offered Energy Efficiency programs. Use less energy to get the same benefit, it’s a win-win for everyone!

Other locally produced GSR, heat recovery, and geothermal projects are currently under study.

Summary of provincial regulations

In a nutshell, the upcoming changes are as follows:

• The Regulation respecting the quantity of renewable natural gas to be delivered by a distributor will require distributors to gradually reduce the volume of fossil natural gas delivered to residential and commercial customers until they provide only gas from renewable sources (GRS). The goal is to replace 100% of fossil gas by GRS by 2040. For the Outaouais’ residential sector, that date is 2050 (but remains 2040 for commercial and industrial customers).
• The Regulation respecting oil-fired heating appliances will prohibit the installation of natural gas heating systems in new small buildings starting in 2026. These changes will not apply in the Outaouais. Builders will be able to continue to rely on the reliability of the gas network and equipment rental for their housing projects.

Consult the press release. (In French only)

They have talked about us: ICI RDI (at 6 minutes 52 seconds), Radio 104.7 (In French only)