3 April 2024

09:00 – 09:45

Amphi 1

Pierre Lanthier

Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and Associate Researcher at the Centre interuniversitaire d’études québécoises, Pierre Lanthier’s research focuses on the financial and institutional aspects of electricity production and distribution, aluminum production and electrical construction. He is also interested in medium-sized towns in Quebec before 1960, and in particular the evolution of their financing.

Why is the public sector involved in international power transmission?

Ever since electricity transmission became a national business, governments have imposed their presence through elaborate regulation and often through the creation of state-owned companies. Today, the growth in energy consumption is such that new sources must be found all the time. As it happens, many of these sources are located beyond national borders, requiring international agreements and the presence of multinational companies. The latter solution is all the easier to conceive since, in the 1990s and 2000s, many power grids were privatized and new regulations increased competition in electricity generation and transmission. The way therefore seems open for the private sector to take on the international transmission of this form of energy. However, state-owned companies have also shown an interest in cross-border trade, and many have transformed themselves into multinational firms. How can we explain this phenomenon? And how do host countries react to firms controlled by other countries? Finally, is it foreseeable that the continental dimension of electricity transmission will generate networks that are autonomous from existing nations?