Honestly, if you live in a place like Boston or New York City, there is a decent chance the light bulb over your head is currently powered by a waterfall in rural Quebec. It sounds like a bit of a stretch, right? But the reality of the North American power grid is that the border between the U.S. and Canada is basically invisible when it comes to electrons.
So, let's get into the hard numbers. People often ask, how much electricity does the United States get from Canada? On a national level, the figure sounds small—usually hovering around 1% to 2% of total U.S. electricity consumption.
But that "1%" is a massive lie of omission.
In 2024, Canada was the source of roughly 81.6% of all electricity imported by the U.S. While we produce most of our own power, when we do look outside our borders for help, we almost exclusively look North. In 2024, Canada exported about 35.7 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity to the States. To put that in perspective, that’s enough to power more than 5 million American homes for an entire year.
Why This "Small" Number Is Actually a Big Deal
Numbers can be deceiving. If you look at the U.S. as a whole, Canadian power looks like a rounding error. But electricity isn't a national bucket; it's a regional see-saw. The U.S. Northeast and the Upper Midwest don't just "use" Canadian power—they rely on it to keep the lights on during the hottest and coldest days of the year.
Take New England (ISO-NE), for example. In the dead of winter, specifically January 2025, Canadian imports provided about 14% of New England’s total electricity demand. When a polar vortex hits and natural gas prices skyrocket because everyone is using gas to heat their homes, Canadian hydro is the "battery" that prevents the grid from collapsing.
The Provinces Doing the Heavy Lifting
Not all of Canada is in the business of selling power. It’s really a game played by four or five major provinces:
- Quebec: The undisputed king. Hydro-Québec runs one of the largest hydroelectric systems in the world. They provide the lion's share of power to New York and New England.
- Ontario: Usually a major exporter, often sending nuclear and hydro power into Michigan and New York.
- Manitoba: Sends clean hydro south into Minnesota and the Dakotas.
- British Columbia: This one is tricky. B.C. actually became a net importer recently because of massive droughts, but they usually trade heavily with Washington state and California.
The 2025 Trade War and the Tariff Tussle
If you've been following the news lately, you've probably heard about the "Energy Trade War" of 2025. It’s been a mess. The Trump administration hit Canadian electricity with a 10% tariff in early 2025.
The reaction was instant.
Premiers in Ontario and British Columbia didn't just complain; they threatened to flip the switch. Doug Ford and David Eby essentially said that if the tariffs stayed, they might prioritize their own domestic needs and stop the flow south. By March 2025, Hydro-Québec actually paused some exports to New England. They claimed it was because of low market prices and the need to manage their own water reservoirs after years of drought, but the timing felt... pointed.
This situation exposed a huge vulnerability. If Canadian hydro disappears, the U.S. has to fire up old, dirty "peaker" plants—those are the ones that run on oil or coal and cost a fortune to operate. Basically, without Canada, your electric bill goes up and the air gets a lot dirtier.
Drought: The Invisible Enemy of the Grid
It isn't just politics that determines how much electricity the United States gets from Canada. It's the weather. Most Canadian export power comes from "fuel" that falls from the sky—rain and snow.
For the last three years, Canada has been dealing with "abnormal" dryness. When the reservoirs are low, the turbines don't spin as much. This is why we saw a weird dip in 2024. In fact, for a brief window in 2024, the trade actually reversed. The U.S. was sending more power to Canada than it was taking in.
Expert Note: This "bidirectional" flow is actually the future of the grid. It’s not just about Canada selling to us anymore. In the future, when we have too much wind power in the Midwest or too much solar in the South, we’ll send it North to "pump" their reservoirs back up, essentially using Canadian dams as giant green batteries for the whole continent.
The Massive New Projects You Should Know About
Despite the tariff drama, the infrastructure is still expanding. You don't spend billions on copper wires if you don't plan on using them for the next fifty years.
- Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE): This is a monster of a project. It’s a $6 billion, 339-mile line that is almost entirely underground or underwater. It’s scheduled to start flowing in May 2026. Once it’s live, it will deliver 1,250 megawatts of power directly into New York City. That’s enough to cover 20% of the city’s entire needs.
- New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC): This one has been a political football for years in Maine. It’s a 145-mile line designed to bring 1,200 MW of Quebec hydro to Massachusetts. After all the court battles and referendums, it’s finally on track to be operational by 2026.
The Economic Reality (By the Billions)
Let's talk cash. In 2024, the value of Canadian electricity exports to the U.S. was about $3.1 billion. In return, the U.S. sold about $1.2 billion worth of power back to Canada.
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It’s a lopsided trade, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to oil and gas. For comparison, Canada sent $140.8 billion worth of crude oil to the U.S. in the same year. So, while electricity is vital for keeping the lights on, in the eyes of the accountants, it’s just one small piece of a much larger $150 billion energy relationship.
The Problem with "Clean" Labels
There’s a bit of a debate about whether this power is actually "green." While hydro doesn't burn coal, the massive dams in Quebec and Manitoba have historically flooded huge areas of Indigenous land. Groups like the Innu and Cree have often been at odds with these projects. When you see a "100% Clean Energy" sticker on a New York City building, just remember that the "clean" part often involved a very complicated and sometimes painful history for the people living near the dams.
Summary: What's the Real Answer?
If someone asks you how much electricity the U.S. gets from Canada, here is the short version:
- Nationally: It's about 1.5% of our total juice.
- In the Northeast: It can be as high as 15% to 20% during peak demand.
- The Trend: It’s actually been decreasing recently due to droughts and higher Canadian demand, but it’s expected to surge again in 2026 when the new big transmission lines open.
- The Source: Almost all of it is hydropower from Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba.
Actionable Next Steps
If you’re a homeowner or business owner in a northern state, this "invisible" trade affects you more than you think. Here’s what you should keep an eye on:
- Check Your Utility’s "Power Mix": Most utility companies provide a breakdown of where their power comes from. If you see "Imported Hydro," that's the Canadian connection. Understanding this helps you see why your rates might fluctuate based on Canadian weather or trade policy.
- Watch the 2026 Projects: The activation of the CHPE line in May 2026 will be a major market event. If you are in New York, it could stabilize rates during the summer heatwaves.
- Advocate for Grid Modernization: The trade war of 2025 showed that we need more "bidirectional" lines. Supporting local transmission projects actually makes the whole system more resilient because it allows us to share renewable energy rather than relying on a one-way street.
Basically, we're stuck with each other. The U.S. needs Canada's water, and Canada needs the U.S. market. No matter what the politicians say about tariffs, the physics of the grid usually wins out.
Primary Source References:
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Electric Power Monthly 2024-2025.
- Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Market Snapshot: Overview of 2024 Canada-U.S. Energy Trade.
- Hydro-Québec Annual Strategic Plan 2026.
- Global Transmission Report, North America Project Update Archives (Jan 2026).