MONTREAL - Higher electricity prices may not discourage companies from building new data centres as demand for power continues to grow, a consultant hired by Hydro-Québec told the province's energy regulator on Friday.

The comments came as the first phase of hearings into the utility's proposal to nearly double electricity rates for large data centres wrapped up in Montreal, with lawyers representing Google and an environmental coalition questioning consultants about their study of electricity markets across North America.

Hydro-Québec is asking the province's energy regulator, the Régie de l'énergie, to approve a new rate averaging 13 cents per kilowatt hour for data centres requiring more than five megawatts of power, nearly double the average 6.82 cents currently paid by major industrial electricity users.

The utility has said the increased rate for data centres is not meant to slow down growth, but rather to ensure residential customers don't wind up seeing rate hikes to compensate for discounts offered to the rapidly growing industrial sector.

THE BERING SEA (AP) — The net rose from the heaving Bering Sea swells, packed so tightly with Alaska pollock that their heads squeezed through the webbing.

As the catch spilled onto the deck, other dead marine life came with it: a skate, crabs, jellyfish and, among the most consequential, salmon — the fish at the center of a growing political and cultural fight over industrial trawling in Alaska.

“This is a wild capture fishery so you do run into your nontarget species, and a lot of people have a problem with that,” said Maverick Blake, the boat’s captain. “But this is what it takes to put seafood on the table.”

Blake redirected the boat toward another fishing ground where he hoped to encounter fewer salmon.

WEST VANCOUVER - A man has been fined $27,000 after he was caught intentionally feeding wildlife, including bears and coyotes, in Metro Vancouver.

British Columbia's Conservation Officer Service says the sentence was issued in North Vancouver provincial court on Tuesday.

The service says the man admitted to intentionally leaving food at sites along Keith Road in West Vancouver over almost two weeks in April and May 2022.

It says conservation officers identified three sites, located near a popular walking trail, and bears and coyotes were seen feeding at them.

OTTAWA - Some of Canada's leading environmental groups are pushing the federal government to change aspects of proposed legislation to speed up development of major projects before it's tabled this fall.

Environmental Defence has launched an ad campaign to draw attention to the potential fate of the Southern Resident Orcas. The group says the whales are at risk if Ottawa moves ahead with a bill changing how major projects are reviewed.

The group says it's concerned about Ottawa's plan to establish "economic zones" for transportation corridors, telecommunications networks, and energy production and transmission. Those zones would allow the federal cabinet to decide which activities would be allowed in them, and give ministers the power to pre-approve projects.

"We've heard from MPs that changes are being considered from what was drafted initially," Julia Levin, an associate director at Environmental Defence, told The Canadian Press.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fires tearing through the Los Angeles area have killed at least 24 people, displaced thousands of others and destroyed more than 12,000 structures in what might be the most expensive conflagrations in the nation's history.

The blazes started last Tuesday, fueled by fierce Santa Ana winds that forecasters expect to kick back up through at least midweek. Cal Fire reported that the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires have consumed about 62 square miles (160 square kilometers).

The Palisades Fire, along the coast, has been blamed for eight deaths, while the Eaton Fire further inland has been blamed for 16 others, the LA County medical examiner's office said. At least 23 people are missing, and authorities said that number is expected to rise.

Investigators are still trying to determine what sparked the fires. They could be the nation's costliest ever. Government agencies haven't provided preliminary damage estimates yet, but AccuWeather, a company that provides data on weather and its impact, puts the damage and economic losses at $250 billion to $275 billion.

More powerful winds were expected to trigger new wildfires that could set back the recent progress made in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

Here's the latest:

The number of people under evacuation orders in Los Angeles County has dropped to under 100,000

But officials cautioned that more evacuations could be ordered when high winds return this week.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A growing force of firefighters moved into the Los Angeles area Monday as more powerful winds were expected to trigger new wildfires that could set back the recent progress made in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

Crews and equipment arrived from across the U.S., and from Canada and Mexico — including water trucks and planes that drop firefighting chemicals — as the National Weather Service warned that the coming days could become “particularly dangerous.”

It predicted severe fire conditions will last through Wednesday, with wind gusts in the mountains reaching 65 mph (105 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, warned fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns at a community meeting Sunday night.

The relative calm Sunday allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas. But even as containment increased in the worst of the fires, more bad news emerged from the ashes: The death toll surged late Sunday with an update from the Los Angeles County medical examiner. At least 16 people were missing, a number authorities said was also likely to rise.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A growing force of firefighters moved into the Los Angeles area Monday as more powerful winds were expected to trigger new wildfires that could set back the recent progress made in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

Crews and equipment arrived from across the U.S., and from Canada and Mexico — including water trucks and planes that drop firefighting chemicals — as the National Weather Service warned that the coming days could become “particularly dangerous.”

It predicted severe fire conditions will last through Wednesday, with wind gusts in the mountains reaching 65 mph (105 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, warned fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns at a community meeting Sunday night.

The relative calm Sunday allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas. But even as containment increased in the worst of the fires, more bad news emerged from the ashes: The death toll surged late Sunday with an update from the Los Angeles County medical examiner. At least 16 people were missing, a number authorities said was also likely to rise.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t hear an appeal from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change.

The order allows the city of Honolulu's lawsuit against oil and gas companies to proceed. The city's chief resilience officer, Ben Sullivan, said it's a significant decision that will protect "taxpayers and communities from the immense costs and consequences of the climate crisis caused by the defendants’ misconduct.”

The industry has faced a series of cases alleging it deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change. Governments in states including California, Colorado and New Jersey are seeking billions of dollars in damages from things like wildfires, rising sea levels and severe storms. The lawsuits come during a wave of legal actions in the U.S. and worldwide seeking to leverage action on climate change through the courts.

The oil and gas companies appealed to the Supreme Court after Hawaii's highest court allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The companies include Sunoco, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP, many of which are headquartered in Texas.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Top-ranked UCLA’s game against Penn State on Wednesday is being moved to Long Beach State’s campus because of concerns about the ongoing deadly wildfires.

The women's game will be played at Walter Pyramid, about 35 miles from UCLA’s campus in Westwood, which is not far from the Palisades fire that has yet to be contained.

UCLA has canceled in-person classes through Jan. 17.

The Nittany Lions played No. 4 USC on Sunday at Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles.

BEIJING (AP) — Sales of all types of electric vehicles rose more than 40% in China last year, while those of gasoline-powered automobiles plunged, industry data showed Monday.

A total of 31.4 million vehicles were sold last year in the world's biggest market by sales, up 4.5% compared from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported. Growth in sales outpaced production, which rose 3.7%.

China's exports of passenger cars jumped almost 20% in 2024, to almost 5 million vehicles. Out of that, exports of what China calls “new energy vehicles,” including battery EVs, fuel-cell cars and plug-in hybrids -- electric vehicles with a small gasoline-powered engine to back up the batteries -- reached 1.28 million. That was a 6.7% increase from 2023.

Domestically, sales of passenger cars rose 13.6% in December, driven in part by rebates for trade-ins, raising sales of all passenger cars in China by 3.1% for the year, to 22.6 million.

Firefighters are hoping for a break Friday from the fierce winds that have fueled massive blazes in the Los Angeles area, killing 10 people, obliterating whole neighborhoods and setting the nation’s second-largest city on edge.

On Thursday afternoon, the Kenneth Fire started in the San Fernando Valley. It moved into neighboring Ventura County, but a large and aggressive response by firefighters stopped the flames from spreading.

The fires have burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures since Tuesday, when they first began popping up around a densely populated, 25-mile (40-kilometer) expanse north of downtown Los Angeles. No cause has been identified yet for the largest fires.

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