Ontario hits back at Trump’s tariffs with 25% surcharge on electricity export
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford said of the US surcharge: “I feel terrible for the American people. It’s one person who is responsible. That’s President Donald Trump.”
PHOTO: AFP
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OTTAWA – A Canadian province that exports electricity to the US raised power prices for three states by 25 per cent on March 10 in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs
Ontario directed its grid operator, the Independent Electricity System Operator, to add a C$10 (S$9) per MWh surcharge to all power exported to Minnesota, Michigan and New York in the US.
“Believe me when I say I don’t want to do this. I feel terrible for the American people,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. “It’s one person who is responsible. That’s President Donald Trump.”
Mr Ford promised the levy last week after US tariffs against Canadian goods took effect, and vowed to follow through even after the White House agreed to exempt autos and some other goods covered under the countries’ existing trade agreement.
Ontario’s decision may be more symbolic than anything. Prices on the US electricity spot markets, the exchanges where the provinces sell their power, are based on short-term supply and demand. That means buyers can choose from a menu of sellers and do not necessarily have to buy it from Canada.
The province expects to earn as much as C$400,000 per day from the surcharge, “which will be used to support Ontario workers, families and businesses”, the government said in a release.
“If the premiers use levers that are to our advantage, good news,” Ms Melanie Joly, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, told reporters on March 10.
New York imported about 4.4 per cent of its total electricity from Canada in 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations using data from the New York grid operator.
The percentage for Minnesota and Michigan is even less, according to Midcontinent Independent System Operator (Miso), the region’s grid operator.
“In 2024, less than 1 per cent of Miso’s total energy was supplied via Canadian imports and less than half of that came from Ontario,” Mr Brandon Morris, a spokesman for Miso, said in an e-mail. “For context, that amount is equivalent to approximately one power plant. Miso manages the loss of power plants like this every day to ensure reliability across our footprint.”
Ontario has seven transmission connections with New York, four with Michigan and one with Minnesota. BLOOMBERG
