Hydro Quebec slaps businesses with hefty deposit bills

Some Montreal-area retailers are upset with Hydro Quebec for charging them hefty deposits for their electricity accounts.

One such retailer is JL Taylor. With 11 stores in Quebec, the high-end department store employs 120 people.

In spite of being in business for years, Hydro-Quebec sent Taylor a series of bills totaling $20,500.

That price tag stings, said manager Eric Prince.

“We'll have to decide what else doesn't get done, but certainly something will have to be cut out to hand $20,000 over,” said Prince.

Volvox Sport on Ontario St. is facing the same problem.

In spite of being in business for 14 years, they were asked for a deposit of $5,200.

Given his average bill is under $100 per month, owner Sylvain Cholette said it makes no sense.

“It's like six years of consumption. That's a deposit?” he said.

Hydro Quebec claims it only asks for deposits to protect itself from businesses that may have trouble paying their electricity bills; deposits are only collected from new businesses or those that have had a late payment in the past two years.

Taylor stores insisted they've only ever had one questionable late payment, when they say a bank teller accidentally paid the bill for one store twice, while not paying the electricity for another store.

“Which was corrected right away, the minute we knew about it,” said Prince.

Cholette also said he rarely pays late.

“Nothing really major, like a few days,” he said.

Hydro Quebec said they lose $100 million per year in unpaid bills and they would like to cut that amount.

“The objective for Hydro Quebec, with the deposit, is to make sure that all the bills are paid and reduce the bad debt,” explained spokesperson Marc-Antoine Pouliot.

Hydro Quebec and the government should look for ways to help commerce, said Simon Gaudreault, senior economist at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“Right now, deposits that are required are very high. It's in a way dead money that's put in a bank by Hydro Quebec,” he said.

In spite of promises that Hydro Quebec works with its clients, Cholette said he isn't getting any help

His biggest complaint? There's only electric company in town.

“I can't produce my own electricity so I'm stuck,” he said.