Editing James Bay Project (section)

=== Phase II ===
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, construction of the second phase of the James Bay project centred on the construction of five secondary power plants on the La Grande River and its tributaries (La Grande-1, La Grande-2A, Laforge-1, Laforge-2 and Brisay), adding a further 5,200&nbsp;MW of generating capacity by the end of 1996. Premier Bourassa estimated that this phase would create 40,000 construction job-years (equivalent to 4,000 jobs lasting 10 years).<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Burns |first1=John F. |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1988-03-09 |title=Big Quebec Power Plan In Phase 2 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/09/business/big-quebec-power-plan-in-phase-2.html |access-date=2023-03-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Three new reservoirs covering an area of 1,600&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> were created, including the Laforge-1 Reservoir covering 1,288&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>. The generating plants of this second phase of the project produce about 18.9&nbsp;TWh of power per year, operating at between 60% and 70% of their maximum rated generating capacity.

On March 13, 1989, a massive [[March 1989 geomagnetic storm|solar storm]] caused a failure of the La Grande complex, plunging most of Quebec into darkness for nine hours.