600 MW US Power Deal Secures Ontario Supply for Winter

Ontario will import electricity from the United States this winter under a six month contract for 600 megawatts of firm capacity, the province grid operator said. The deal lands months after Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut power exports south during the trade war with Washington.

The Independent Electricity System Operator, known as the IESO, signed the contract with US based Alpha Generation. It starts on November 1, 2026, and runs for six months. The IESO set out the contract in an October 1, 2026 news release and did not disclose its value.

Why Ontario needs the power

The IESO said the capacity secures short term supply for winter while maintenance takes place at generating facilities. It did not name the facilities in the release. CBC reported as context that the multi year refurbishment at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station began in September 2026. Pickering sits on the north shore of Lake Ontario east of Toronto and has supplied the province for decades, so extended work there tightens the margin while crews do the job.

The IESO described Alpha Generation as the only viable alternative for this need. The company has also taken part in a past Capacity Auction, the program the operator uses to secure extra supply.

Firm capacity matters in winter. It is supply the operator can count on when demand rises on cold days, not power that may or may not be available on the market that morning.

A sharp turn in the trade fight

The deal follows months of talk in the opposite direction. Ontario sends power to about 1.5 million people in Michigan, New York and Minnesota. In March 2025, Ford announced a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to the United States and removed it a day later. In August, Ford said he was willing to cut off electricity and critical minerals.

Critics moved fast. Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, called the contract "very ironic" and said importing power makes Ontario vulnerable if the United States cut supply. Lewis Krashinsky, a Harvard postdoctoral fellow who studies United States and Canada politics, said the contract undercuts Ford position. Ford office declined to comment in CBC Toronto reporting.

Ontario still sells far more than it buys

The IESO says Ontario is exporting nearly seven times more electricity than it imported in 2025. The province regularly imports and exports power with its neighbours to match seasonal demand. Flows rise and fall with weather, demand and plant outages.

That record is why the contract stands out. Ontario is not short of power in a normal year. It is buying insurance for one winter, while specific plants are out for work and cold weather can push demand up fast.

What happens next

The contract starts on November 1, 2026, and covers the winter months. It runs for six months, through April 2027. After that, the need should ease as maintenance ends, but the IESO has not said in the release what replaces this supply if work runs long.

Watch two things. First, whether the operator seeks more imported capacity for future winters. Second, whether the Ford government explains a deal that sits at odds with its own threats to cut power to the United States. For households, the test is simple: the lights and heat stay on through the coldest weeks, at a price the province has chosen not to publish.