Alcan, a major aluminum producer, is developing Péribonka to be more adequately supplied with hydroelectric power. From 1941 to 1943, the Chute-des-Passes dam was built at the southern end of Péribonka Lake which became a vast reservoir. Two other dams were erected downstream during the 1950s (Chute-du-Diable from 1950 to 1952 and Chute-à-la-Savane from 1951 to 1953). The French writer Louis Hémon (1880-1913) mentions the Péribonka river several times in his novel Maria Chapdelaine, written shortly before his death and published in 1916. The Chapdelaine house is also located near the bank of this course of water.