Hydro-Québec Electricity Rates for Bitcoin Mining (2026): Rate CB, D, G, M, L

The Hydro-Quebec electricity rates that matter to Bitcoin miners – Rate D (residential), DT, G (small power), M (medium) and L (large industrial) – with system charge, energy price and demand charge, effective April 1, 2026. Free CSV/JSON + REST under CC BY 4.0.

Quick answer

Quebec's cheap power is real - but the cheap rate is not the rate a Bitcoin miner gets. The number everyone quotes for Quebec is Rate L, the large-industrial rate, at 3.821 c/kWh. A dedicated mining load is legally barred from it. Under Chapter 7 of the Hydro-Quebec rate schedule, any annual contract with at least 50 kW of installed capacity dedicated to "cryptographic use applied to blockchains" must take Rate CB, and that customer may not benefit from the Industrial Revitalization Rate, the Load Retention Rate, the D-R Commitment Option, the Additional Electricity Option or the Economic Development Rate (Art. 7.1). Rate CB prices only "authorized" consumption cheaply (6.292/4.666 c medium power, 4.324 c large power) - and Art. 7.2 freezes authorized capacity to what was already held or confirmed before June 7, 2018, or won through an allocation award. A NEW Quebec miner has no authorized consumption, so every kilowatt-hour it draws bills at 18.767 c/kWh: roughly 4.9x the Rate L figure the province is famous for. Below 50 kW of dedicated capacity you stay on the ordinary rates - Rate D at home (7.065 c/kWh for the first 40 kWh/day, then 11.142 c), Rate G on a small commercial meter. This reference lists the 7 rate classes that matter to miners, with their charges and their article in the official schedule, effective April 1, 2026.

Under 50 kW dedicated to mining, Quebec is genuinely cheap: Rate D is 7.065 c/kWh for the first 40 kWh/day, then 11.142 c. At or above 50 kW dedicated to blockchain use, Rate CB is mandatory and Rate L's 3.821 c/kWh is off the table - a new site with no grandfathered authorized capacity pays 18.767 c/kWh on all of its energy, about 4.9x the industrial rate, on non-firm service that Hydro-Quebec can curtail to 5% of peak for up to 300 hours a year (power drawn above that limit during a curtailment bills at $1.038/kWh). Allocation of new authorized capacity has been suspended since January 2023. Quebec is cheap for almost everyone except a new miner. Rates adjust every April 1; confirm the current schedule with Hydro-Quebec.

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Rate	Schedule art.	Applies to	System charge	Energy price	Demand charge	Mining use
Rate D	Art. 2.5	Residential (homes)	46.154 c/day	7.065 c/kWh (first 40 kWh/day), then 11.142 c/kWh	None	The rate a home Bitcoin miner pays. The 40 kWh/day first-tier threshold is roughly one S19-class miner, so heavy mining quickly hits the higher 11.142 c second tier. A home miner stays on Rate D as long as capacity dedicated to mining stays under 50 kW - past that, Rate CB is mandatory.
Rate DT	Art. 2.34	Residential dual-energy (electricity + backup heat)	46.154 c/day x multiplier	5.131 c/kWh when the outdoor temperature is at or above -12 C (-15 C in some areas), 30.001 c/kWh when colder	$7.266/kW of billing demand in excess of the base billing demand	A dual-energy heating rate. The very high cold-weather price (30.001 c) makes 24/7 winter mining expensive; rarely the right rate for miners. Note the demand charge above base billing demand - a continuous ASIC load raises that baseline.
Rate G	Art. 3.2	Small-power business (under ~65 kW)	$15.426/month	12.388 c/kWh (first 15,090 kWh/month), then 9.534 c/kWh	$22.071/kW of billing demand over 50 kW	The rate a small mining shop or a few rigs on a commercial meter pays. The demand charge kicks in past 50 kW - and so does Rate CB, if 50 kW or more of that capacity is dedicated to mining.
Rate M	Art. 4.2	Medium-power (50 kW to under 5 MW) - NON-blockchain load only	None (minimum monthly bill $15.426 single-phase / $46.278 three-phase)	6.292 c/kWh (first 210,000 kWh), then 4.666 c/kWh	$18.242/kW of billing demand	NOT available to a dedicated mining load. Art. 7.1 puts any contract with 50 kW or more dedicated to cryptographic use on Rate CB instead. Rate M is what a comparable non-blockchain industrial load of the same size pays - useful only as the benchmark for what mining is NOT charged.
Rate L	Art. 5.2	Large-power industrial (5 MW or more) - NON-blockchain load only	None	3.821 c/kWh	$15.027/kW of billing demand	The famous 3.821 c/kWh 'cheapest power in North America' figure - and a Bitcoin miner CANNOT get it. Art. 7.1 bars any load with 50 kW or more dedicated to cryptographic use from Rate L. This is what a smelter, a mill or a non-blockchain data centre pays. Quoted as a mining rate, it is off by roughly 4.9x.
Rate CB (medium power) mining	Art. 7.3	Blockchain/crypto load with 50 kW or more of dedicated capacity; minimum billing demand under 5,000 kW	None (minimum monthly bill $15.426 single-phase / $46.278 three-phase)	6.292 c/kWh for the first 210,000 kWh of AUTHORIZED consumption, then 4.666 c/kWh for remaining authorized consumption - but 18.767 c/kWh for any consumption above or other than the authorized consumption	$18.242/kW of billing demand	MANDATORY, not optional: Art. 7.1 applies Rate CB to any annual contract with at least 50 kW of installed capacity dedicated to cryptographic use applied to blockchains, and bars that customer from the Industrial Revitalization Rate, Load Retention Rate, D-R Commitment Option, Additional Electricity Option and Economic Development Rate. The cheap 6.292/4.666 c tiers only apply to AUTHORIZED consumption, and Art. 7.2 limits authorized demand to capacity already held or confirmed before June 7, 2018, or won through an allocation award. A NEW miner has no authorized consumption, so in practice ALL of its energy bills at 18.767 c/kWh - about 4.9x Rate L's 3.821 c. Service is non-firm (Art. 7.9): Hydro-Quebec may curtail demand to 5% of peak for up to 300 hours per rate year on 2 hours' notice, and any power drawn above that 5% limit during a curtailment is billed at $1.038/kWh.
Rate CB (large power) mining	Art. 7.4	Blockchain/crypto load with 50 kW or more of dedicated capacity; minimum billing demand 5,000 kW or more	None	4.324 c/kWh for AUTHORIZED consumption - but 18.767 c/kWh for any consumption above or other than the authorized consumption	$16.571/kW of billing demand	The industrial-scale blockchain rate, and the one an at-scale Quebec Hashcenter actually gets - not Rate L. Authorized consumption bills at 4.324 c/kWh, but authorized capacity is effectively frozen (Art. 7.2: allocated before June 7, 2018, or won through an allocation award), and Hydro-Quebec's allocation process for the dedicated block has been suspended since January 10, 2023. Unauthorized consumption - which is all of it, for a new site - bills at 18.767 c/kWh. Non-firm service, curtailable to 5% of peak for up to 300 h/year (Art. 7.9), with power above the 5% limit during a curtailment billed at $1.038/kWh.

Source: the official Hydro-Quebec Electricity Rates schedule, effective April 1, 2026 — article references in the table point into that document. Rate CB is Chapter 7, “Rate for Cryptographic Use Applied to Blockchains”. One discrepancy worth knowing: Hydro-Quebec’s own /blockchain/ explainer page still quotes the pre-April-2026 unauthorized-consumption price of 18.078 c/kWh, while the binding rate schedule effective April 1, 2026 states 18.767 c/kWh. We publish the schedule figure, because that is the legal instrument. Also proposed, not in force: on February 19, 2026 Hydro-Quebec asked the Régie de l’énergie to move the blockchain rate to an average of ~19.5 c/kWh and create a new large data-centre rate averaging ~13 c/kWh, effective in the second half of 2026 subject to approval. Pairs with D-Central’s Canada mining-regulation dataset, the Canadian electricity-rates dataset, and the mining energy-sources comparison. Rates adjust annually - verify the current schedule at hydroquebec.com.

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Last reviewed June 20, 2026.