Terms
The following terms are in use in this module and coming as much as possible from the official Hydro-Quebec electricy rates document (page 31) :
https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/documents-donnees/pdf/electricity-rates.pdf
and from the “Régie de l’énergie” document :
Period
In the context of the Winter Credits a period is a time window during which a specific billing or algorythmic logic is applied by Hydro-Quebec.
There are 3 type of period:
peak
A peak period is a period during which the energy consumption across all customers is generally high. In the context of winter credits the following time range are always peak periods:
Morning peak period: 06:00 to 10:00 Evening peak period: 16:00 to 20:00
anchor
This period starts 5 hours before the morning peak (with a duration of 3 hours) and 4 hours before the evening peak (with a duration of 2 hours). With the current peak periods (as described above) it results in the following time periods:
Morning anchor period: 01:00 to 04:00 Evening anchor period: 12:00 to 14:00
This period is used by HQ in combination with the reference period to calculate the Reference Energy used to calculate the credit by trying to guess the additionnal energy usage caused by the colder temperature.
In HQ’s rate document it is called temperature adjustment and in the “Regie de l’énergie” document it is refered to as an “anchor” period.
normal or other
Any period that is not peak or anchor.
Critical
A peak or anchor period can be critical or not. A critical period is when a critical peak event has been declared by Hydro-Quebec for the period.
Erased Energy and Limitation (New 2025)
Erased energy represents the difference between the reference energy (estimated consumption based on historical data) and the energy actually consumed during a critical peak event. This value can never be negative.
Temperature Adjustment Limitation
If the erased energy exceeds 40 kWh, the temperature adjustment is capped at a maximum of:
- For morning peak: Maximum of 2 times the average consumption during the anchor period (01:00-04:00) from the 5 reference days
- For evening peak: Maximum of 2 times the average consumption during the anchor period (12:00-14:00) from the 5 reference days
Practical implication: This rule limits the benefit of aggressive optimization strategies. If you erase more than 40 kWh during the critical peak, the temperature adjustment (which normally increases your credit) will be capped, thereby reducing your potential total credit.
Minimum Credit
No credit is paid for a peak event if the erased energy value is less than 1 kWh (approximately $0.57 in credit).