51³Ô¹ÏÍøhas enrolled in Hydro Québec’s Peak Demand Management (PDM) program. During extremely cold weather events, Hydro Québec will call for its clients to reduce power demand, thus reducing the strain on the province’s power infrastructure.
When?
From December 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026.
10 to 20 periods between 6 AM – 9 AM and/or 4 PM – 8 PM
Mondays through Fridays on extremely cold days (excludes December 24, 25, 26, and 31, January 1 and 2, as well as Good Friday and Easter Monday when they fall within the winter period).
How?
List of buildings participating in Peak Demand Management program in 2025-2026.Ìý
| Building # | Official Building Name | Change control sequence | Reduce elevator operation | Transfer building to generator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 154 | Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building | ✓ | Ìý | ✓ |
| 229 | M. H. Wong Building | ✓ | Ìý | Ìý |
| 239 | Genome Centre | ✓ | ✓ | Ìý |
| 240 | Lorne M. Trottier Building | ✓ | ✓ | Ìý |
| 157 | McIntyre Garage | Ìý | Ìý | ✓ |
| 168 | Education Building | Ìý | ✓ | ✓ |
| 241 | Life Sciences Complex | Ìý | Ìý | ✓ |
| 118 | Macdonald-Harrington Building | Ìý | Ìý | ✓ |
| 130 | Macdonald Engineering Building | Ìý | Ìý | ✓ |
| 131 | McConnell Engineering Building | Ìý | Ìý | ✓ |
| 177 | Frank Dawson Adams Building | Ìý | Ìý | ✓ |
| 185 | Donald E. Armstrong Building | ✓ | Ìý | Ìý |
| 236 | Brown Student Services Building | ✓ | Ìý | Ìý |
| 197A | South Power House | ✓ | Ìý | ✓ |
Safeguards
- If temperature in any space drops below/above the above parameters, heating/air conditioning will automatically kick in to get back to acceptable conditions.
- All systems to return to normal mode outside of PDM periods.
- At least one elevator to be kept running to maintain accessibility to the building.
- No change in animal labs, sequencer rooms, and other critical areas defined with building directors.
With the participation of:
- Hydro Québec
- 51³Ô¹ÏÍøUtilities & Energy Management
- 51³Ô¹ÏÍøBuilding Operations
- Building Directors
Background information
Québec’s power demand profile is atypical in that it peaks in the winter (as opposed to the summer for most North American jurisdictions) due to the high penetration of electrical heating on the market. During these events, Hydro Québec must purchase power at a hefty cost from neighbouring provinces and states. Further to being extremely expensive, electricity generated in other jurisdictions is much less clean that Québec’s energy mix. Building new electricity generation infrastructure (hydro dams or wind farms) isn’t in the interest of the province as such infrastructure would be grossly underutilized and would not be profitable on the long run. Demand-side management programs that call for end-users to reduce their demand are a much more effective and sustainable way to reduce the financial and environmental impacts of having to purchase power from other jurisdictions.
Performance of previous years
51³Ô¹ÏÍøhas beenÌýparticipating in the PDM program since winter 2015/2016.ÌýDuring the previous three years, we were able to reduce our power demand from the grid around 3,000 kW per event, which is like shutting off around 2,000 electric baseboard heaters or stopping the charging of more than 400 electric vehicles.
| Winter period | Power reduction | Equivalent reduction in number of electric baseboard heaters turned off | Equivalent reduction in number of electric vehicles unplugged from charger |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 3,384 kW | 2,256 | 470 |
| 2020-2021 | 2,891 kW | 1,927 | 402 |
| 2021-2022 | 2,684 kW | 1,789 | 373 |
| 2022-2023 | 3,048 kW | 2,032 | 423 |
| 2023-2024 | 3,231 kW | 2,154 | 449 |
| 2024-2025 | 1,984 kW | 1,322 | 276 |
*Projects at McIntyre Medical and SAD in 2024-2025 prevented use of generators for peak demand management.