NL power outages: opportunities for Quebec SMEs

Between 2023 and 2025, power outages are on the rise in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, where the power grid is under pressure. Meanwhile, Quebec is also experiencing a marked increase in outages, with 2023 identified as Hydro-Québec’s worst year in 15 years, averaging almost 17 hours of outage per customer, compared with around 5.5 hours in 2021. These strong signals are not just bad news: they also open the door to real opportunities for Quebec SMEs able to prepare and innovate.

In the Netherlands, more than 12,000 companies are already on a waiting list to connect or increase their capacity on the network, due to growing congestion and insufficient infrastructure investment. Local studies show that the majority of Dutch companies can no longer operate for more than half a day without power or connectivity, and that after a week, only 6% remain operational without power. For SME leaders in Quebec, these figures are a real life-size laboratory: they illustrate what lies ahead if we don’t invest now in energy resilience, smart digitization and robust AI solutions.

In this article, we explore how the NL power outage trend can inspire Quebec SMEs. We’ll look at how to turn these risks into competitive advantage through business continuity management, automation, e-commerce, CRM and AI technologies. Finally, we’ll look at how a team like Nuaweb can help you move from a reactive to a proactive strategy.

1. What power outages in the Netherlands (NL) reveal about the future of the grid

The Netherlands is considered one of Europe’s most advanced markets in terms of energy transition and digitization. Yet the country is facing severe congestion on its power grid. According to the Dutch national congestion relief program, more than 12,000 businesses are currently on a waiting list for a new connection or power increase, a sign that demand is far outstripping short-term grid capacity. This situation is forcing the government and operators to deploy over 100 emergency measures to avoid massive systemic blackouts.

At the same time, national estimates suggest that some 11,900 companies and public institutions are already queuing up for a connection or network reinforcement, with the prospect of investments of around 200 billion euros by 2040 to modernize the infrastructure. In some regions, full new connections will not be possible untilthe mid-2030s. In other words, businesses have to live with the assumption that capacity constraints, rationing and outages will be part of everyday life for many years to come.

Reliability figures also show that, even with a historically high-performance network, the trend is worsening: in 2024, a major Dutch distribution operator reported an average interruption time of around 24.6 minutes per customer, up by around 6% on 2023, due in particular to a number of major outages on the high-voltage network. Several regions have already experienced local blackouts affecting tens of thousands of homes and businesses for several hours, forcing stores to close for lack of functional tills or electronic payment.

Even more worrying for SMEs, a nationwide innovation survey shows that the majority of Dutch companies can no longer operate for more than half a day without electricity, telecoms or ICT services. After a week, only 6% of companies remain operational without electricity, 10% without telephone and Internet, and 18% without ICT services. This highlights an extreme dependence on digital and power supplies, without sufficiently robust continuity plans.

For Quebec SMEs, this data acts as a mirror. Quebec is also engaged in massive electrification (transport, heating, industry), and demand is growing rapidly. Recent episodes – such as the ice storm of April 2023, which affected over 1.3 million customers, or the winter of 2025, when nearly 400,000 households were left without power in a single snowstorm – show that the frequency and duration of outages are increasing. Hydro-Québec estimates that 40% to 70% of outages are vegetation-related, even as extreme weather events multiply.

The lesson to be drawn from the NL power outage trends is not that we should fear the future, but that we urgently need to see energy resilience as a competitive advantage, on a par with service quality or price. The SMEs that act now will be the ones to stay open while their competitors come to a standstill.

2. Impact on Quebec SMEs: risks, but above all opportunities

For a Quebec SME, a prolonged power failure is no longer an exceptional event: it’s a recurring risk that needs to be integrated into its strategy. And this risk brings with it a host of technological and commercial opportunities. The trends observed in the Netherlands give us a number of concrete leads.

Firstly, recurring power failures reveal which companies have no business continuity plan. In the Netherlands, the study mentioned above shows that very few companies are able to maintain their operations beyond a few hours without power. This vulnerability translates into direct revenue losses, service disruptions and a drop in customer confidence. In Quebec, the situation is comparable: a retail business, clinic, manufacturer or service SME that can no longer invoice, produce, respond or deliver for 24 to 72 hours not only loses sales, but also risks seeing its customers migrate to better-prepared competitors.

Secondly, these events highlight the importance of diversifying sales and customer relations channels. During the gigantic blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April 2025, virtually the entire country was plunged into darkness, with an instantaneous loss of around 60% of electrical capacity and several million households without Internet and telephone access. In such a context, companies that had relied solely on the physical point of sale or on a single digital channel were particularly hard hit. Those with a combination of online stores, automated ordering systems and partially outsourced processes fared better.

For Quebec SMEs, this means it’s no longer enough to have a showcase website. You have to think in terms of the entire customer journey:

• Ability to sell and collect online (e-commerce, automated invoicing).
• CRM tools to keep in touch with customers even when they’re temporarily out of business.
• Automated follow-up (e-mails, SMS, notifications) to reassure and inform customers in the event of an incident.

This is precisely where digital solutions become a strategic lever. For example, a Quebec SME can :

• Set up a robust e-commerce site with Nuaweb e-commerce to continue taking orders and payments as soon as the connection is restored, even if the physical point of sale is temporarily closed.
• Use a connected CRM, such as the solutions offered by Nuaweb Gestion CRM, to segment your customer base, quickly follow up on breakdowns and track claims for compensation or deferrals.
• Deploy an intelligent chatbot and customer knowledge base with Nuaweb‘s AI, so that customers get answers 24/7, even when teams are swamped with crisis management.

Finally, power outages and grid congestion are creating a new economy around demand management, storage and flexibility services. In the Netherlands, authorities are already experimenting with flexible tariffs, rationing contracts and peak-load mechanisms to smooth consumption. In the medium term, this paves the way for models where SMEs can :

• Be paid to reduce their consumption at certain times.
• Valorize their storage equipment (batteries, electric vehicles) as local energy resources.
• Automatically optimize their usage via AI to take advantage of the cheapest hours.

In short, the same trends that are complicating the daily lives of European companies are creating a window of opportunity for Quebec SMEs to position themselves as reliable, predictable and technological organizations in an increasingly uncertain context.

3. Building digital resilience: AI, CRM and omnichannel channels

In the face of increasing outages and network congestion, resilience is no longer just about having a generator in the backyard. It’s about building a digital ecosystem capable of absorbing shocks, restarting quickly and communicating effectively with customers, suppliers and employees. Trends in the Netherlands – where most businesses become inoperable within a few hours without ICT – show that a simple power outage now results in complete digital paralysis.

For a Quebec SME, the first step is to map its critical processes: order taking, production, deliveries, customer service and invoicing. At each stage, three questions need to be answered:

• What happens if the power fails for 4 hours? 24 hours? 3 days?
• What information must remain accessible?
• Which systems can be outsourced to the cloud to get back up and running faster?

Secondly, flexible digital tools need to be put in place:

• CRM and sales automation: a good CRM, deployed with a specialized team like Nuaweb Gestion CRM, centralizes customer data, requests, contracts and history. In the event of a breakdown, you’ll know in seconds which customers to prioritize, which contracts are at risk, and which messages to send.
• Conversational AI and chatbots: by integrating cloud-hostedAI and chatbot solutions, your customer service remains accessible 24/7. A chatbot can automatically inform you of the status of your services, register requests, propose alternatives (postponed delivery, credit, etc.) and relieve your human teams.
• Collaborative tools in the cloud: documents, procedures, crisis checklists and business continuity plans need to be stored in secure cloud solutions, so they can be accessed even if your offices are inaccessible or without power.

Digital resilience also requires well thought-out website and e-commerce architecture. A site built with modern performance practices, redundant hosting and automated backups will be easier to relaunch after an incident. An agency like Nuaweb – Création de site web can, for example :

• Design a site or online store that can withstand traffic peaks during crisis situations.
• Set up backups and geographic replication of data.
• Integrate dynamic alert messages to inform visitors in real time.

Finally, repeated power outages in highly digitized countries such as the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal highlight the importance of resilience marketing. Customers want to know that their supplier will be there “no matter what”. Communicating about your continuity measures (generators, backups, duplicate systems, support AI) is now a selling point, especially in sensitive sectors (healthcare, food, critical B2B services).

A well-thought-out digital strategy, supported by AI, a high-performance CRM and an omnichannel presence, can therefore not only limit losses in the event of breakdowns, but also build trust and differentiate you in an increasingly volatile market.

4. From crisis management to competitive advantage: drawing inspiration from the Dutch case

NL power outage trends show what happens when electricity demand grows faster than grid capacity: years-long queues to connect, rationing, more frequent outages and rising costs. But they also show how some companies turn this constraint into a strategic advantage.

For a Quebec SME, there are several concrete lines of action:

• Business Continuity Plan (BCP): document a simple BCP, tested at least once a year: who does what in the event of a breakdown, which systems are critical, which suppliers to contact, how to communicate with customers. Integrate your BCP into your digital tools (CRM, intranet, AI).
• Scenarios and automation: set up automatic scenarios in your CRM and marketing tools (e-mail, SMS, notifications) to inform your customers in the event of service disruption, propose alternative solutions and maintain the relationship despite the unexpected.
• Energy and infrastructure: depending on your sector, assess the benefits of investing in back-up solutions (generator, batteries, local micro-grids). Trends in the Netherlands and Europe point to the emergence of flexibility programs where companies can be remunerated for adjusting their consumption.
• Complete digital transformation: no longer think of your website, CRM and AI tools as “marketing add-ons”, but as the backbone of your resilience. A partner like Nuaweb can help you integrate AI, CRM, e-commerce and automation into a coherent architecture.

The European figures are clear: tens of thousands of businesses are already hampered in their growth by network limitations and repeated outages. In Quebec, 2023 was the worst year in 15 years for average outage duration, with major events affecting more than a million customers on several occasions. To ignore these trends would be to condemn ourselves to future crises.

Conversely, SMEs that invest now in their digital infrastructure, AI tools and continuity processes are positioning themselves as solid, reliable and innovative players. Not only will they be better able to withstand outages, but they will also be able to gain market share when their less prepared competitors experience extended outages.

This is precisely the kind of posture that Nuaweb is helping to build: an organization where digital is not just a communications channel, but a genuine strategic shield in the face of the energy and climate uncertainties looming for 2024-2030.

Conclusion: make energy resilience a pillar of your growth with Nuaweb

Power outages in the Netherlands, congestion on the European grid, massive blackouts in Spain and Portugal, as well as the sharp rise in interruptions in Quebec are all converging signals: dependence on electricity and digital is becoming a major risk for SMEs. But it’s also a tremendous opportunity for those who choose to invest in resilience, digitization and AI.

Inspired by NL power outage trends, you can turn a global threat into a local advantage:

• By strengthening your online presence with a website or online store designed for performance and rapid recovery.
• By structuring your customer data and sales with a CRM tailored to Quebec SMEs, connected to your service and claims processes.
• By deployingAI, chatbots and automation solutions with Nuaweb‘s expertise, to maintain a fluid customer relationship even in a crisis context.

Are you a small business owner or manager in Quebec who wants to assess your level of preparedness for power outages and the risk of network congestion? Let’s talk.

Schedule a free consultation with the Nuaweb team now to take stock of your digital resilience, CRM tools, e-commerce and AI strategy, and build a concrete action plan tailored to your reality.

Contact Nuaweb today and turn your next breakdown into an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.