“When governments build walls around trade, consumers often discover that they are the ones paying for the bricks, while electricity quietly reminds us that prosperity flows best through cooperation.” – MJ Martin
Introduction
The record flow of Canadian electricity into New York during the July 2026 heat wave is much more than an interesting statistic. It demonstrates that electricity has become an international strategic resource, much like freshwater, natural gas, or transportation corridors. When temperatures soared across the northeastern United States, Canada’s interconnected electricity system responded by providing reliable power precisely when it was needed most. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, New York imported 52 GWh of Canadian electricity during the July heat wave, the highest level of cross border electricity trade since January 2025. At the peak of the event, Canadian imports supplied approximately nine percent of New York’s electricity demand, helping preserve reliable grid operations during a period of exceptional demand.
For Canadians, this event highlights the growing economic and geopolitical importance of our electrical infrastructure. It also serves as a reminder that Canada’s energy resources are not merely domestic assets. They are increasingly central to the resilience of the broader North American electricity system.
Transmission Lines Are Highways for Electricity
Imagine Canada’s hydroelectric reservoirs as giant water towers sitting on a hill, while high voltage transmission lines are the pipelines carrying that stored energy to communities that suddenly become thirsty. Electricity cannot easily be stored in large quantities, so it must be transported almost instantaneously from where it is generated to where it is consumed.
The newly commissioned 1,250 MW Champlain Hudson Power Express connects Hydro Québec directly to New York City. During the July heat wave, the line operated at its full rated capacity while New York simultaneously received approximately 1,400 MW from Québec and another 800 MW from Ontario. Together, these imports became an important stabilizing force for one of North America’s largest electricity markets, demonstrating the practical value of decades of investment in Canadian generation and transmission infrastructure.
Canada’s Competitive Advantage
Canada possesses one of the world’s largest renewable electricity portfolios. Hydroelectric facilities in Québec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and other provinces act as enormous renewable batteries. Reservoirs allow operators to release water when electricity prices are highest or when neighbouring jurisdictions require emergency support.
This flexibility creates significant opportunities. Rather than simply exporting electricity, Canada exports reliability. As more American jurisdictions retire coal fired generation while simultaneously electrifying transportation, heating, industry, and artificial intelligence data centres, dependable Canadian hydroelectric power becomes increasingly valuable.
Recent drought conditions temporarily reduced hydroelectric generation across parts of Canada, demonstrating that even renewable resources remain vulnerable to climate variability. As reservoir levels recover and new transmission projects come into service, cross border electricity trade is expected to expand once again.
Trade Policy Meets Energy Reality
The July 2026 heat wave also exposed an important contradiction in North American trade policy. While the United States has imposed tariffs on many Canadian goods in an effort to encourage domestic manufacturing and reduce imports, the same period demonstrated that the American economy continues to depend upon Canadian infrastructure, energy, and natural resources when reliability matters most.
Electricity provides perhaps the clearest example. Electrons do not recognize political borders, customs stations, or tariff schedules. When New York required additional generation capacity, Canadian electricity flowed south because it was available, competitively priced, and essential to maintaining grid reliability. Had those imports not been available, wholesale electricity prices could have risen significantly, placing additional financial pressure on households, businesses, and public institutions already coping with extreme summer temperatures.
From an economic perspective, tariffs rarely eliminate costs. Instead, they often redistribute them throughout highly integrated supply chains until they eventually appear in the prices paid by consumers. In North America, where components and raw materials routinely cross the Canada United States border several times before becoming finished products, tariffs function less as a penalty on foreign producers and more as a tax on economic efficiency. Ultimately, consumers on both sides of the border bear much of that burden through higher prices for manufactured goods, housing, infrastructure, and energy intensive products.
The broader lesson is that Canada and the United States have built one of the world’s most integrated economic relationships precisely because each country contributes complementary strengths. Canada supplies abundant clean electricity, critical minerals, forest products, agricultural commodities, and industrial expertise. The United States provides capital investment, manufacturing capacity, and access to one of the world’s largest consumer markets. Policies that unnecessarily disrupt this relationship risk making both economies less competitive while increasing costs for the very citizens they are intended to protect.
Reliability Requires More Than Generation
One lesson from the July event is that generation alone is insufficient. Transmission infrastructure must be equally dependable.
Although the Champlain Hudson Power Express successfully delivered full power during the heat wave, it also experienced outages shortly after entering commercial service and required additional repairs. This illustrates an important engineering principle. A transmission line resembles a major highway bridge. Even if it is designed to carry enormous traffic volumes, an unexpected closure can instantly disrupt regional transportation. Electricity networks behave in much the same way.
This reinforces the importance of rigorous commissioning, predictive maintenance, redundancy, and continuous monitoring throughout the life of critical infrastructure.
Implications for Canada
Canadian utilities should view this event as evidence that cross border electricity markets will become increasingly important. Future demand drivers include artificial intelligence data centres, electric vehicle charging, industrial electrification, and increasingly frequent heat waves. These trends will place greater value on flexible hydroelectric generation, energy storage, and expanded inter-provincial and international transmission capacity.
The opportunity extends well beyond Hydro Québec. Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador all possess resources capable of strengthening North American grid resilience while generating export revenues that can help finance future investments in Canada’s own electrical infrastructure.
For Canadian municipalities and utilities, stronger transmission networks also improve resilience at home by allowing provinces to share electricity more effectively during emergencies, equipment failures, and severe weather.
Questions Worth Considering
Should Canada prioritize expanding electricity exports, or should more generating capacity be reserved for future domestic growth?
If Canada is increasingly relied upon to stabilize the North American grid, should future trade negotiations recognize the strategic value of Canadian electricity and other critical resources?
As climate change increases the frequency of heat waves and droughts, how should Canadian utilities balance export commitments against domestic reliability?
Could Canada’s hydroelectric reservoirs eventually become North America’s largest renewable balancing system, supporting wind, solar, and emerging energy technologies across both countries?
Summary
The July 2026 heat wave demonstrated that Canada’s electrical system is becoming an indispensable component of North America’s energy security. The record export of 52 GWh to New York was not simply a commercial transaction. It was a practical demonstration of how interconnected grids improve reliability during periods of extreme demand while reinforcing the economic partnership between Canada and the United States.
At the same time, the event exposed the inconsistency of imposing trade barriers on one hand while relying upon Canadian electricity, infrastructure, and natural resources on the other. Reliable, affordable energy is ultimately in the interest of both nations. As electrification accelerates and demand continues to grow, policies that encourage cooperation rather than unnecessary barriers will be more likely to strengthen energy security, moderate consumer costs, and improve economic competitiveness throughout North America.
Sources
U.S. Energy Information Administration. New York Imports Record 52 GWh of Canadian Electricity During July Heat Wave, 2026.
New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), Hourly Electric Grid Monitor.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Champlain Hudson Power Express Project Information.
About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees – in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven major certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 80 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) [aka Micro Learning] continuous education programs in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Power BI, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.
Martin in a volunteer, a photographer, a learner, a technologist, a philosophizer, and a romantic optimist.
Well written on an important topic!