The utility’s new CEO Michael Sabia has initiated a feasibility study on reopening the facility in Bécancour, Que., which was decommissioned in 2012, the Crown corporation confirmed to The Logic. “To decarbonize the Quebec economy, demand for clean electricity will increase significantly,” Hydro-Québec spokesperson Francis Labbé said in an email. Le Journal de Québec was first to report the news. (Le Journal de Québec, The Logic)

Talking point: This is Sabia’s first big move after leaving his post as Canada’s deputy finance minister in May to replace former Hydro-Québec chief Sophie Brochu. The feasibility study comes as Sabia looks for ways to meet conflicting and growing demands on the utility from Quebec’s government. As my colleague Martin previously reported, Hydro-Québec is powering the province’s electrification and decarbonization efforts while the government courts energy-intensive industries with cheap carbon-free energy. Commissioned in 1983, the 675-megawatt Gentilly-2 plant was shut down 11 years ago when Hydro-Québec estimated that refurbishment would cost $4.3 billion.