Matthew Elder
A group of concerned citizens has proposed an alternative plan to Hydro-Québec’s regional upgrade project, aiming to minimize visual and environmental impacts across the Eastern Townships.
Under the proposed alternative, the municipalities of Lac-Brome, Brome, and Sutton would see only existing power corridors used, avoiding the need to carve new ones and thereby preserving the region’s visual character. Elsewhere in the project area, impacts would be similarly minimal.
A key feature of the proposal is the retention and upgrading of the existing substations in Knowlton and Sutton, eliminating the need to build a new large-scale substation in another location.
In this version of the plan:
- The Knowlton substation, located at the end of the municipal parking lot on Lakeside Road, would remain in place and be upgraded with two new 69/25 kV transformers.
- The Cowansville and Stukely substations would be significantly upgraded with 120 kV transformers, boosting their capacity.
- A new electrical loop would connect Lac-Brome and Sutton, improving system resilience in the event of an outage and meeting North American reliability standards without requiring a separate emergency power supply.
The citizens’ proposal emphasizes cost-effective modernization with less environmental disruption, while still achieving the project’s reliability and capacity goals.
Hydro-Québec has indicated it will announce its final plan this fall.
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