Partnership between the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and Hydro-Québec
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 14 June 2021
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke has reached a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Hydro-Québec to partner on the Hertel-New York Interconnection Project to transmit green renewable energy to New York City. This agreement is on condition that Hydro-Québec wins the energy supply contract. These proposals would supply New York City with up to 1,250 MW of renewable power, enough electricity for more than 1.2 million homes. Per the MOU, the MCK will support the construction of the line and the project and benefit from the revenues over a 40-year term. Lynn St-Laurent is a spokesperson for Hydro-Quebec:
“In the summer of 2019, Grand Chief of the Council, the late Joe Norton, expressed the will of the community to launch discussions and possibly even to partner with Hydro-Québec in this inter-connection project, so we’re very proud of this historic step taken with community.”
The state of New York is expected to choose a power supplier by this fall. Joe Delaronde is a spokesperson for the MCK:
“At a certain point we’ll probably have to talk a little more, this is again at the very beginning stages. There’s still a lot more negotiation that has to happen once the agreement is, or certainly once the bid is accepted. If it’s accepted then there’s a lot more negotiations to come.”
This clean power influx will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 3.9 million metric tons annually, equivalent to removing 44% of cars from New York City streets. The state of New York is expected to choose a power supplier by this fall.
