The Town of Sutton calls on Hydro-Québec to pay closer attention

– PRESS RELEASE

Sutton, February 10, 2025 – At the last municipal council meeting on February 5, Sutton Mayor Robert Benoît gave an update on the current status of discussions with Hydro-Québec concerning the project for a new 120-kilovolt (kV) substation and power line to replace the two existing substations in Sutton and Brome Lake and the 49-kV line.

“As proactive as Hydro-Québec has been in meeting almost 100% of the Town’s requirements to improve service quality in Sutton over the past year, including massive pruning, Hydro-Québec is currently going in the wrong direction with the construction of a new power line and substation,” says the Mayor.

Since the announcement of the construction project in June 2024, Hydro-Québec has studied what it considers to be the optimal area (dotted line) for the substation location in the Sutton Junction area, as well as alternative routes for the feeder line, according to map below:

For several months now, however, Cowansville Mayor Sylvie Beauregard, Lac-Brome Mayor Richard Burcombe, Sutton Mayor Robert Benoît and the administrative staff of the Brome-Missisquoi MRC have been asking Hydro-Québec to expand the search area for this new 120 kV substation.

A socially and politically acceptable site

Indeed, the three municipalities agree that Hydro-Québec’s current proposed site targets a particularly bucolic area where the presence of this substation, much larger than the previous ones, and new towers up to 45 m high, risk disfiguring a landscape that makes our region so attractive.

“We submitted a proposal for another site to Hydro-Québec,” said the Mayor. “The Pearson sandpit site along Route 104, between Cowansville and Lac-Brome, ticks all the boxes in terms of the project’s social and political acceptability:

o It would eliminate the need to build the transmission line to Sutton Junction;
o It would use an already disturbed site;
o It would benefit from access to a major roadway;
o It would preserve the environment and landscapes.”

Also, at their meeting with Hydro-Québec on January 30 at the Brome-Missisquoi MRC’s environment and land-use planning round table, the elected officials expected Hydro-Québec to provide them with the results of the technical studies that would, in their opinion, justify the impossibility of using this site. This was not the case.

“We are very aware of the importance and necessity of this project, and we are eager to continue the collaborative effort begun with Hydro-Québec two years ago. We expect detailed answers to our questions and for Hydro-Québec to listen attentively to our arguments and the concerns of the population,” concluded the Mayor.

Hydro-Québec Webinar on February 26

Residents of the municipalities concerned are invited to participate in the webinar organized by Hydro-Québec on Wednesday, February 26, from 7 to 9 p.m., to present the progress of the project. Prior registration is required on the project web page, where it is possible to comment and ask questions: hydroquebec.com/projets/brome.

Read the Mayor’s statement at the meeting of February 5, 2025

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Source:
Isabelle Capmas
Communications Advisor
[email protected]
Tel.: 450-538-2290, option 8
Direct line: 450-915-6678