Could Canada cut power to the US?

What would losing Canada’s electricity mean for the U.S.?

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has floated cutting off Canadian power to the U.S. in retaliation for President Trump’s trade war.

© Sammy Kogan, The Canadian Press via Associated Press; and Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press

On Monday, Ford told The Associated Press that “everything is on the table,” including cutting off electricity to the U.S.

“We power 1.5 million homes and businesses,” he said. “Everything’s on the table. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

He made similar remarks during a Wednesday press conference, calling on other regions of Canada to join him.

“Everything’s on the table, but I can’t do it alone,” Ford said. “I’m not the only province that ships electricity down to the U.S. We need a Team Canada approach.”

In total, Canada supplied less than 1 percent of the total electricity used in the U.S. last year .

However, that’s not divided evenly among states, as some in the Northern U.S. get a more significant share of their power from the neighboring country.

“If we don’t receive the imports from Canada, we have to switch on more expensive plants, and we could get the power from those more expensive plants, but we would be then increasing our CO2 emissions, in addition to paying higher costs,” said John Parsons, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management and researcher with its Center for Energy and Environmental Policy.

Doug Arent, global fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy, said that Ontario on its own would not likely make a material difference, saying if Ford cut off power to the U.S. unilaterally, it would be more of a “symbolic gesture.”

However, if more provinces were involved, Arent said, Americans in the Northeast U.S. could see prices rise if a shutoff lasts more than a few days.”

“If it’s off for days or weeks, then in that month, there might be price impacts,” he said.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, I’m Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:

An early government projection on the exposure to toxic chemicals following the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment indicated that the incident could have put thousands of Americans at risk, according to documents obtained by a watchdog group.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) brushed aside fears Wednesday morning about possible negative environmental impacts from SpaceX’s planned $100 billion launch facility in the state.

Iran and Oman’s foreign ministers on Tuesday said they are setting up the framework of a temporary corridor for commercial vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the key commercial waterway whose traffic has been stymied amid the U.S. war on Iran.

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics :

West Point professor fired after pushing back on limitations to teaching climate change, lawsuit says ( Stars and Stripes )

Gas station and travel center chain Buc-ee’s said it will seek out “conservative, business friendly” states for new locations after receiving pushback over its decision to go after small business owners with allegedly similar logos. Read more

A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday lifted a nationwide block on mail-in voting restrictions, temporarily clearing the way for the Trump administration to begin implementing them ahead of the November midterms. Read more