Canada and the US run one of the largest bilateral electricity trades in the world. On any given day, thousands of megawatts cross the 49th parallel in both directions — mostly hydro from Canada moving south, and cheaper off-peak or nuclear power moving back north. Here’s how the system actually works.
Five provinces and one Atlantic connection account for nearly all of the cross-border flow:
| Corridor | Typical capacity | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec → New York & New England | ~3,450 MW | Hydroelectric |
| Ontario → NY, Michigan & PJM | ~4,100 MW | Nuclear / Hydro |
| British Columbia → Pacific Northwest | ~3,150 MW | Hydroelectric |
| Manitoba → Upper Midwest | ~1,400 MW | Hydroelectric |
| New Brunswick → Maine | ~1,000 MW | Nuclear / Hydro / Wind |
| Alberta/Saskatchewan → Montana | ~450 MW | Wind / Gas / Hydro |
See every corridor’s live flow on the PowerTrip map.
Canada is normally a net exporter — typically 5–10 GW of net flow southward on an average day, peaking higher in winter and summer. But the trade is genuinely bidirectional:
Neither side’s grid could operate as reliably without the interties. When a nuclear plant trips offline in Ontario, or a transmission line fails in New England, cross-border flows re-balance the system within seconds. Operators on both sides count on this.
Most Canadian exports are hydro, nuclear, or wind — so every imported megawatt-hour displaces fossil generation in the US. At typical flows, this avoids millions of tonnes of CO₂ per year.
At wholesale prices, the Canada→US trade is worth on the order of $5–8 million per day in energy value — billions per year, mostly flowing to provincial utilities like Hydro-Québec and BC Hydro.
The US side publishes hourly intertie flows through the EIA-930 dataset; Canadian operators like Ontario’s IESO and Alberta’s AESO publish their own real-time feeds. That’s what PowerTrip aggregates into one live view — see the live map or download the free PDF report.
Yes — almost always. Net exports typically run between 3 and 10 GW depending on season and weather. Check the live number at powertrip.cc.
Most exports are surplus that can’t be stored — hydro reservoirs fill, rivers keep flowing. Selling surplus power earns revenue that keeps domestic rates lower.
Yes, and often at the same time on different corridors. The flows cross continuously in both directions — the “net export” number is what you see on dashboards.