Ontario's trade war retaliation will drive up U.S. electricity bills by $100 per month
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has just taken another bold step in Canada's counter-attack in the face of the steep tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump enacted on goods imported from the north last week.
On Monday, Ford and his minister of energy and electrification formally introduced a new 25 per cent surcharge on all electricity the province sends south of the border, which will add approximately $100 to the monthly power bills of some 1.5 million residents in neighbouring New York, Michigan and Minnesota, effective immediately.
It's a measure that the premier has been threatening since Trump started mounting his tariff actions in earnest in recent weeks, turning the blustering prattle the former reality TV star is notorious for into serious, debilitating action against his nation's closest ally.
Until President Trump’s tariffs are off the table for good, we’re putting a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 10, 2025
Ontario doesn’t want this trade war, but we won’t back down until it’s over.https://t.co/pdhI7oMef1 pic.twitter.com/5GBIU4SK6n
Ford added in his press conference about the new surcharge this morning that he will escalate restrictions on Ontario-produced energy further if Trump does not definitively back down on the levies against Canadian imports — and, that simply delaying the tariffs or adding last-minute exemptions, as Trump has amid all of his back-and-forth, will not cut it.
"Let me be clear: I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If necessary, if the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to cut power off completely," Ford said.
"Until these tariffs are off the table, until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario will not relent, we will not back down. We need to end the chaos once and for all... We will apply maximum pressure to maximize our leverage."
In total, this new charge could bring in as much as $300,000 – $400,000 in revenue for the Province each day. But, these earnings are not something that Ford celebrates.
"Believe me when I say I do not want to do this. I feel terrible for the American people, because it's not the American people who started this trade war. It's one person who's responsible: that's President Trump," the premier said.
"I'd rather be working together. I want to sell the U.S. more energy, more electricity, more critical minerals. I want to make Canada and the United States the richest, most successful, safest and most secure two countries on the planet. But as premier, my number one job is to protect the people of Ontario, and in hand, protect the people of Canada."
Despite the fact that many constituents seemed chagrined by the Progressive Conservative party's majority win in last month's snap provincial election, Ford has served as a strong defender of the Great White North in this unprecedented trade war, with some now saying that even if they don't like him, they "appreciate the steps he's taken to answer in Ontario's best interest."
The province currently shares 12 transmission connections with the three aforementioned states, and has exported an average of 13.6 terawatt hours of electricity to the U.S. annually over the last few years.
