TORONTO, April 18, 2018 – The Honourable J. David Wake, Ontario’s Temporary Financial Accountability Officer, has just released a report that reviews the Ontario-Quebec Electricity Trade Agreement (ETA).
The Electricity Trade Agreement is a seven-year agreement between Ontario and Quebec that runs from 2017 to 2023. Under the terms of the agreement, Ontario will be able to import from Quebec up to 2.3 TWh of electricity annually, enough to supply 250,000 households. Ontario will also provide Quebec with 500 MW of electricity generating capacity each winter.
The Province entered into the ETA with Quebec with the objective of providing savings to Ontario ratepayers, and reducing Ontario-based natural gas generation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by importing Quebec’s emissions free electricity.
Based on the FAO’s review of the ETA, Ontario ratepayers will save approximately $38 million over the seven years of the agreement. The agreement also ensures that electricity imported from Quebec will reduce natural gas generation and GHG emissions in Ontario. However, the agreement will not increase the overall level of electricity imports from Quebec into Ontario as electricity imports under the ETA will simply replace what Ontario was already purchasing from Quebec in the open market.
To learn more about the FAO’s review of the Electricity Trade Agreement, click here for the report.
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For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Kismet Baun l (416) 254-9232 l kbaun@fao-on.org l fao-on.org
About the FAO
Established by the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) provides independent analysis on the state of the Province’s finances, trends in the provincial economy and related matters important to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Visit our website at http://www.fao-on.org/en/ and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/InfoFAO.
