Electricity Exports Help Keep OntarioÂ’s Supply Strong

TORONTO - - OntarioÂ’s electricity market generated over $30 million in May through net exports by trading electricity with other states and provinces, bringing total net export revenues to over $136 million this year.

Ontario is part of an interconnected North American power grid that allows the province to buy and sell electricity with states and other provinces. Being interconnected gives the province the opportunity to export power when itÂ’s not needed by Ontario families and businesses and benefit from these revenues.

Since 2006, the electricity market has generated $1.5 billion through net exports, which is in stark contrast to 2002 and 2003 when Ontario paid $900 million to import power. Over the last year, the province exported power at positive prices 99 per cent of the time.

Ontario is replacing dirty, coal-fired plants with cleaner sources of power like wind, solar and bio-energy. ItÂ’s part of the McGuinty governmentÂ’s plan to keep costs down for families today, while building a clean, modern and reliable electricity system for tomorrow.

OntarioÂ’s Green Energy Act will create 50,000 clean energy jobs by the end of 2012. Over 13,000 jobs have already been created as a result of our plan.