Article content

Cheap exports of surplus nuclear, solar, wind and hydro power could have cost Ontario as much as $1.25 billion over 21 months, according to a new study released Tuesday by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE).

Depending on what the situation calls for, Ontario — Canada’s most populous province — exports and imports electricity to and from neighbouring places such as Manitoba, Michigan, New York and Quebec, with exports outnumbering imports by roughly three to one in 2016 and the first nine months of 2017, the study showed.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Sell surplus electricity at a discount to Ontario businesses, rather than exporting at loss, province urged Back to video

But OSPE, a non-partisan group, said the province’s exports of “clean” electricity over those 21 months — generated from power plants and sources that give off nearly zero greenhouse gas emissions — were worth plenty more than what Ontario received.

The clean electricity cost the province’s power system a combined $1.885 billion to produce, the study suggested, enough energy to power around two million homes for an entire year. In return, somewhere in the range of $637 million and $1.15 billion in revenue was earned for the power, leading to a loss of between $732 million and $1.25 billion.