By MELISSA GOLDIN
People on social media are suggesting that Canada might leave the U. S. in the dark if the trade conflict between the two nations gets worse.
This speculation grew after Ontario Premier Doug Ford mentioned in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that “everything is on the table” if tensions escalate, which includes potentially cutting off electricity from his province. Recently, Canada placed around $20 billion worth of tariffs on American goods without any move to restrict electricity supply.
Despite this, experts indicate that Americans won’t suddenly lose power even if Canadian officials act on Ford’s comments.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s true.
CLAIM: Canada can cut off electricity to the U. S., causing major blackouts.
THE FACTS: This statement is misleading. While it’s true that Canada supplies electricity to some states and could halt that supply, it wouldn’t be as simple as flipping a switch to cause widespread blackouts. The U. S. has enough alternative sources of power to cover any shortfall, making economic consequences more likely than actual outages.
“We would see it in the market, we would see it in the prices, but we would not be bereft of electricity,” said Barbara Kates-Garnick, a professor of practice in energy policy at Tufts University’s Fletcher School.
In 2025, Canada exported $3.3 billion worth of electricity to the U. S., according to the Canada Energy Regulator, a government agency. That year, it imported $1.4 billion worth from its southern neighbor. These figures translate to 32.7 terawatt hours exported and 22.1 terawatt hours imported respectively. Meanwhile, the U. S. produced 4.43 thousand terawatt hours of electricity in 2025 as reported by the Energy Information Administration.
The reason why the U. S. imports electricity from Canada is partly due to cost; it’s often cheaper than producing more power domestically. If Canada were to stop exporting power altogether, generation would shift towards more expensive sources which could increase overall electricity costs while still providing enough supply for everyone.
“They’re mostly a supplier; they do not control the actual availability of energy in our homes,” Saleh El Hattab, founder and CEO of energy management company Gravity explained about Canada’s role. “It’s a market that has tons of suppliers. People who just have more expensive sources of energy will get bids that they usually don’t get access to.”
An unlikely scenario might lead to significant blackouts during extreme weather events when demand spikes unexpectedly; however, everyday people wouldn’t instantly lose their power.
Jonathan Steirer, interim director at Case Western Reserve University’s Great Lakes Energy Institute clarified that what’s more realistic is high-demand users like data centers or universities being asked to reduce their load by switching off from the grid and using backup generators instead-many already participate in demand response programs for incentives when cutting back usage during peak times.
If these measures aren’t sufficient, rolling blackouts could be implemented; however customers would typically receive notifications before experiencing any loss of power.
“On a business-as-usual day if they were to just turn off the metaphorical switch most impacts would be economic,” Steirer noted.
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews. com/APFact Check.
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