Short answers, pulled from the story.
The government of Quebec nationalized Montreal Light, Heat & Power company and its subsidiary Beauharnois Power to create Hydro-Québec in 1944. Premier Adélard Godbout had previously adopted a policy investing ten million dollars annually into rural power projects before the nationalization.
Major infrastructure projects like Bersimis-1 completed in 1956 added 1,125 megawatts to the grid while the Manicouagan-Outardes Project became a seven-dam complex featuring the Daniel-Johnson Dam with 2,596 megawatts capacity. Phase I of the James Bay Project began construction during this era of rapid modernization.
TransÉnergie emerged as Hydro-Québec's transmission division when it spun off in 1997 following U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 888. This high-voltage network stretches over thirty-five thousand kilometers including fifty-one-four substations across Quebec and connects remote generation sites like the James Bay project to southern urban centers through back-to-back HVDC converters.
Hydroelectric development increased mercury levels in fish three to six times during the first five to ten years after reservoir flooding. Studies conducted from 1970 to 2000 confirmed that these elevated concentrations gradually reverted to initial values after twenty to thirty years.
Hydro-Québec International launched operations outside Canada in 1978 to market expertise globally. Investments included Transelec in Chile, Cross Sound Cable in the United States, and Murraylink in Australia before the company withdrew from international business between 2003 and 2006 selling all foreign investments for profit.