This article was published by the Canada Energy Regulator on Jan. 8, 2020.
Around 50 companies have permits from the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) to export Canadian electricity. Canadian generators, their subsidiaries, and other companies all export electricity to the U.S.Footnote1
In 2010, 54 companies sold 44 terawatt-hours (TW.h) of electricity to U.S. markets. In 2019, as of October, nearly 50 companies sold 50 TW.h.Footnote2 Figure 1 shows the volumes exported by each company.
The largest exporters tend to be provincial crown corporations that also generate electricity, such as Hydro Québec or Manitoba Hydro, or their subsidiaries, such as Powerex Corp. (a subsidiary of BC Hydro).
In general, companies export electricity to the U.S. when prices are higher. The relatively large number of Canadian entities exporting electricity to the U.S. relies on significant integration between Canadian and U.S. electricity markets. Canadian electricity trade with U.S. markets is greater than provincial trade.
Description: The bars show the volume of electricity exported (sold) to the U.S., by company, from 2010 to the end of October 2019. The electricity total export volumes shown include 44 TW.h in 2010, 68 TW.h in 2015, and 50 TW.h from January to October 2019.
The line shows the number of companies that exported electricity from Canada each year from 2010 to the end of October 2019. An average of around 50 companies export electricity each year, including partial data in 2019. In most years, in terms of volume, the top three electricity exporting companies include Hydro Québec, Powerex, and Manitoba Hydro. There were 54 exporting companies in 2010, 49 in 2015, and 49 from January to October 2019. To see a fully animated version of this graph, click here.
Figure 2 breaks down electricity exports to the U.S. by province. Most of Canada’s electricity is exported from provinces with significant hydro and/or nuclear generation capacity. Over 70 per cent of exports are from Quebec and Ontario alone.
Electricity trade data, including volumes exported by company and province, are published by the CER in Commodity Statistics.
Description: This pie chart shows Canadian electricity exports by province of origin, from January to October 2019. Electricity was exported in the following proportions: Quebec (44 per cent), Ontario (28 per cent), Manitoba (13 per cent), British Columbia (10 per cent), New Brunswick (2 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (2 per cent), Alberta (1 per cent), Saskatchewan (0 per cent), and Nova Scotia (0 per cent).
To see a fully animated version of this graph, click here.
Footnotes:
- Volumes by exporting company and province are in Commodity Statistics, “Table 2A – Exports Summary Report by Source, Authorization and Exchange Type”.
- In comparison, Canada consumes around 540 TW.h of electricity a year (Canada’s Energy Future 2019 data: End-use Demand).
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