How to be like Quebec

No, not paying people to procreate.

From Radio-Canada:

Half of the wind-farm projects submitted to Hydro-Quebec are situated in eastern Quebec.

Ten proponents have submitted a total of 33 projects; 17 in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, 13 in the Gaspé, and three on the North Shore. The total production capacity of the submitted projects throughout Quebec is 7724 MW, 5205 MW of which is from the three eastern regions.

...it's also in the Matapedia Valley, in Saint-Irène, where the smallest of the projects, the Saint-Irène, is located, with a capicity of 9 MW. It is a community project put forward by the Société intégrée de développement éolien de la Matapédia. Community support is one of the important factors for consideration by the crown corporation.

...

Elsewhere, the largest project on the North Shore, at 300 MW, is that of a consortium formed by the First Nations community of Betsiamites and Nortland [sic] Power. The two other projects are in Port-Cartier and Aguanish, on the Lower [sic] North Shore, with a capacity of less than 100 MW each.

The limited number of projects originating from the North Shore is also explained by the availability of transmission lines.

According to this related Radio-Canada report:

The Boralex and Gaz Métro consortium, Innergex, Kruger, Northland Power, St-Laurent Energies and Transcanada Energy are among the largest [wind] project proponents.

The accepted submissions should be announced in the spring of 2008. Those accepted will have to meet certain criteria:

• a minimum of 60% of the overall costs of each wind-farm must be spent in Quebec.
• a minimum of 30% of the cost of each wind generator must be spend in the regional municipality of Matane and the administrative region of Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• projects which contribute to the development of and participation by local and Aboriginal communities will be encouraged.

In Dannystan, "we" — that's Ed Martin and Danny Williams — own the wind.

And that's why private-sector wind-energy investment, and lots of it, is happening in Quebec.

And PEI.