Hydro Quebec told former Liberal government before election to shut down costly Gentilly II project

I winced at the adjectives, such as 'costly', in this article, but the gist of it is fair.

For perspective on the decision, I suggest an article from the summer of 2010, "As Quebec bathes in electricity, money goes down the drain."

As the graphic I've included in this post indicates, two years later the price decline continues for exports. Quebec continues to pay the advanced Bécancour cogeneration electricity plant to remain idle (and it is expected to do so for years to come).

Hydro Quebec told former Liberal government before election to shut down costly Gentilly II project - The Globe and Mail:

Graph created for previous post

The report also noted that when the decision was announced to refurbish Gentilly II in 2008 the cost of producing electricity made it feasible. But since then the market price of producing electricity has plummeted with the sharp increase in shale-gas production in the United States.
It had been estimated that Gentilly II, once refitted, could produce electricity costing between 7 cents and 8 cents a kilowatt hour. At the time the average price for electricity on the open market was 9 cents a kilowatt hour. But cheaper electricity using shale-gas production plunged prices to 4 cents a kilowatt hour. What was once considered a viable project in 2008 became totally unfeasible in 2012.

The entire article can be read at The Globe and Mail: