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MONTREAL — Quebecers won’t get a break on already low hydroelectricity rates but a massive export deal with Massachusetts will give the public utility flexibility to keep increases below inflation, Hydro-Quebec’s CEO said Friday.

“It relieves some pressure,” Eric Martel said at a news conference. “It gives us a certain flexibility for things to come.”

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The biggest export contract in Hydro-Quebec’s history, run by Hydro-Quebec and U.S. partner Eversource Energy, would bring up to 9.45 terawatt hours of electricity per year from Quebec’s hydroelectric plants to Massachusetts.

Hydro-Quebec promised several years ago to keep domestic power rates below inflation and to increase the utility’s profitability.

It kept the rate promise over the last three years with annual increases of 0.7 per cent while the $10-billion deal over 20 years with the New England state will generate higher returns, he told reporters.