Only weeks after Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off electricity exports to the United States as retaliation in the ongoing trade war, Ontario has signed a contract to import electricity from New York state through the winter.
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Ontario → threaten → winter
The 600-megawatt contract starting Nov. 1 will provide power to compensate for “facility maintenance,” the Independent Electricity System Operator said in its announcement of the deal, without being more specific.
The Pickering nuclear plant was shut down in September for a multi-year refurbishment and this contract will partially replace its emissions-free electricity with carbon-intensive power from oil- and gas-fired plants.
There was no price mentioned in the announcement.
“This deal just increases our dependency on Donald Trump’s America to keep our lights on,” said Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance and a former Toronto Hydro commissioner.
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Gibbons → start → Alliance
“It’s absolutely the wrong way to go because it means more pollution, higher electricity bills and it means that we’re more vulnerable to attack.”
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we → ’ → attack
Ford imposed tax on power exports
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Ford → impose → exports
In March 2024, Ford imposed a 25 per cent tax on power exports to the U.S. before backtracking and lifting them the next day.
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Ford → impose → them
In August of this year, he threatened to reimpose the surcharges, saying “everything is on the table.”
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everything → threaten → table
Just over a month later, the province’s power grid operator, the IESO, announced a contract with Alpha Generation, a company that runs fossil-fuel power plants in the U.S. northeast and California, including the Oswego oil-fired generator north of Syracuse, N.Y.
Energy Minister Stephen Lecce’s office referred the Star to the IESO for comment as decisions around energy supply and import contracts are made without input from the ministry.
”
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decisions → announce → ministry
Ontario’s electricity system remains reliable, and securing additional short-term capacity provides greater flexibility,” wrote IESO spokesperson Michael Dodsworth.
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Dodsworth → remain → flexibility
”This also provides additional safeguards through the winter months, as the IESO prepares for higher winter peak demand.
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IESO → provide → demand
Last year, U.S. power imports made up only one per cent of electricity demand and the province exported nearly seven times more, Dodsworth said.
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Dodsworth → make → more
Ontario previously signed a much smaller deal with Oswego for the winter of 2024-25, providing one-quarter of power secured by the current contract.
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Ontario → sign → contract
The province also has an existing contract with Quebec that imports and exports up to 600 megawatts of power when either province needs it.
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province → have → it
Alpha Generation is partly owned by the Canadian Pension Plan, which announced a $1.4-billion investment in the company last year.
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which → own → company
“In a weird twist, not only are Ontarians paying an American fuel oil plant to pollute, that same money is being used to generate returns for the CPP,” said Patrick DeRochie, senior manager of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a non-profit that works to protect pensions and the climate.
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that → pay → pensions
Energy analysts say this new deal represents a departure from the past when Ontario could reliably generate its own power and only needed to import and export small amounts during short periods.
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Ontario → say → periods
“The era of long-term capacity surpluses in Ontario is officially over,” wrote Brendan Callery and Brady Yauch, analysts with Power Advisory, in a report on Ontario’s power procurement.
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Callery → write → procurement
In addition to the Pickering nuclear plant going offline, the Darlington reactors, which completed their own years-long refurbishment in February, are being taken back offline for additional maintenance next spring, creating more power shortfalls, they wrote.
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they → go → shortfalls
Ontario was unable to procure all the electricity it wanted for this winter in its most recent capacity auction, which drove up the wholesale price paid to generators to $725 per megawatt per business day, which is the “the highest ever capacity price in Ontario,” the Power Advisory analysts wrote.
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analysts → procure → Ontario
Mike Marcolongo, associate director of Environmental Defence, says the import contract is likely the result of a hard lesson learned last winter: that Ontario’s gas plants can’t be relied upon during big winter storms.
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plants → say → storms
“In January 2026’s winter storm Fern, 2,400 megawatts of natural gas went offline.
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megawatts → go → gas
That’s not just one or two, it’s multiple gas plants across the province that couldn’t produce power because the gas was routed away from Canada and to the U.S,” he said.
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he → ’ → U.S
In a public presentation from last spring, the IESO said multiple gas plants “had issues securing gas,” during last winter’s coldest months.
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plants → say → months
Fortunately, Ontario’s 800 megawatts of battery storage “performed really well,” allowing the province to avoid blackouts.
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province → perform → blackouts
Push for nuclear power leaves province short of electricity
Gibbons says Ontario’s push to increase nuclear generation by building new reactors and repairing old ones has been carried out at the expense of cheaper options like renewables and battery storage and has left the province short on power.
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push → leave → power
It’s larger than one of the Pickering nuclear station’s reactors,” he said.
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he → ’ → reactors
“And we need it to keep the lights on this winter.”
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we → need → lights
“This problem has arisen because we’re too dependent on high-cost and slow-to-deploy nuclear power and we’re not investing enough in energy efficiency and load shifting and battery storage.”
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we → arise → efficiency
A national poll conducted for the Canadian Renewable Energy Association found affordability was Canadians’ top priority for new generation, with solar power the most popular choice, ahead of hydro, nuclear, wind and natural gas.
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power → conduct → hydro
“The most affordable energy in the world right now is renewables,” said Vittoria Bellissimo, president and CEO of CanREA.
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Bellissimo → say → CanREA
“Ontario should be building as much solar, wind and storage as possible.”
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Ontario → build → solar
The Ford government, which was elected on a platform overtly hostile to renewable energy, and spent $231 million to cancel more than 700 renewable projects, has softened its stance, contracting new solar and wind projects and making the province a leader in battery storage.
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province → elect → storage
“Ontario is still moving forward with wind, solar and storage,” Bellissimo said.
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Bellissimo → move → wind
“It would serve customers better if it did more.”
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it → serve → more
The Aporia
