The Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company (MLH&P) was a utility

Public utility

A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...

 company operating the electric

Electricity distribution

File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...

 and gas distribution monopoly

Legal monopoly

A legal monopoly, statutory monopoly, or de jure monopoly is a monopoly that is protected by law from competition. A statutory monopoly may take the form of a government monopoly where the state owns the particular means of production or government-granted monopoly where a private interest is...

 in the area of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada until its nationalization

Nationalization

Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

 by the government of Quebec

Government of Quebec

The Government of Quebec refers to the provincial government of the province of Quebec. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....

 in 1944, under a law

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

 creating the Quebec Hydroelectric Commission, also known as Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....

.

Hydro-Québec ran both of MLH&P's electric and gas operations until 1957, when its gas properties were sold to the Corporation de gaz naturel du Québec, known today as Gaz Métro

Gaz Metro

Gaz Métro is an energy company in Quebec and one of the largest natural gas distributors in Canada. It owns energy companies in the United States as well.-History:...

.

The company was established in 1901 as a result of the merger of Rodolphe Forget

Rodolphe Forget

Sir Joseph David Rodolphe Forget was an important Canadian business investor, stockbroker, and politician. He held national directorships and had major investments in energy companies as well as industrial concerns and railway companies in the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario...

's Royal Electric Company and Herbert Samuel Holt

Herbert Samuel Holt

Sir Herbert Samuel Holt was an Irish-born Canadian civil engineer who became a businessman, banker, and corporate director....

's Montreal Gas Company.

External links