Infrastructure Act expected to bolster U.S.–Canada Electricity relationship

North American Energy Infrastructure Act streamlines cross-border transmission permitting to integrate the U.S.-Canada electric grid, expand clean energy trade, enhance reliability and affordability, and accelerate hydropower and renewable connections across North America.

The United States and Canada share a small but critical electricity relationship, which offers numerous benefits to consumers in both countries. This integrated power grid allows the U.S. and Canada to pool energy resources, which leads to enhanced reliability and greater access to clean and affordable electricity supplies for consumers and businesses on both sides of the border. H.R. 3301, the North American Energy Infrastructure Act, authored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton R-MI and Rep. Gene Green D-TX, seeks to build upon this current system by facilitating additional investment in cross-border electric transmission facilities.

Recently, Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the need for an enhanced international electric grid at the Council of the Americas' 44th Conference on the Americas, stating, echoing proposals for an energy council across North America, “And we have to do a better job, all of us, in investing in new clean energy technologies and connecting energy markets from Chile to Canada. … So we believe in this future of energy policy for this hemisphere, of linking Canada, U.S., Mexico, to all the way down through Latin America.”

By bolstering North America’s integrated electric grid, H.R. 3301 will help improve energy affordability and reliability, job creation, the environment, and our overall economy. The North American Energy Infrastructure Act will ensure that there won’t be any Keystone XL-like delays for cross-border electricity projects, aligning with calls to strengthen the cross-border grid in recent policy discussions today. The committee is scheduled to vote on this bipartisan legislation tomorrow. Click HERE for more details.

The Current U.S.-Canada Electricity Relationship

Currently, the U.S. and Canadian transmission systems are physically interconnected at over 35 points with linkages stretching across the border from the Pacific Northwest to New England. Canada is currently the United States’ largest foreign supplier of electricity, as U.S. demand for Canadian green power continues to grow in key regions today, with exports to the U.S. typically representing anywhere from 5-10 of Canada’s total production. In 2012, electricity exports from Canada totaled 57,864,640 megawatt-hours. While these exports constitute a small percentage of electricity consumption in the U.S. nationwide between 1-2, they are critical to the energy security and reliability of several states and regions, particularly in New England and the Midwest, even as export risks amid trade tensions remain a concern for policymakers today.

The vast majority of Canadian power exports are generated from clean and renewable energy sources, a trend supported by EPA treatment of exports under recent rules that recognize lower emissions today. Sales from the hydropower-producing provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Québec represent 75 of all exports. The Canadian province of Ontario, the second-largest electricity exporter to the U.S., generated 79 of its power from emission-free nuclear and hydropower facilities, with natural gas comprising the next largest share of its portfolio at 15.

The Future of the U.S.-Canada Electricity Relationship

In addition to the three-dozen existing physical interconnections between the U.S. and Canadian grids, there are additional electric transmission projects currently at various stages of development. These projects would further enhance the level of integration between the transmission systems in the U.S. and Canada, reflecting recommendations for North American electricity trade from industry leaders in recent months today. Furthermore, they each propose to unlock new sources of clean energy generation located in both countries. By standardizing and modernizing the cross-border approval process for similar proposals in the future, the North American Energy Infrastructure Act will help spur additional investment in cross-border transmission lines, recognizing that one size does not fit all in North American energy policy today.

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