Could Canada Cut Off Michigan’s Power? Impact on Great Lakes State

Michigan consumes nearly five times more energy than it produces, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (U.S. EIA).

With the political climate heating up now that a new administration has entered the White House the relationship between the U.S. and Canada are strained. What does this mean for us Michiganders?

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All this talk of proposed tariffs between the U.S. and neighboring countries Mexico and Canada has everyone on edge-- especially consumers. In case you missed it, the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has a plan to retaliate should those high tariffs ever be enforced and that's to hit us where it hurts.

The Premier of Canada's largest province and neighbor to Detroit wants to cutoff U.S. alcohol export to the country, but shutoff our energy too! Says Ford,

We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin...Canadians get hurt, but I can assure you one thing: The Americans are going to feel the pain as well, and isn’t that unfortunate

So, Will Michigan Go Dark?

According to the U.S. EIA Michigan ranks 10th among states for total energy use and in 2024 demand for electricity was expected to increase by 2%. However, most of that electrical energy is generated by natural gas. Explains CNN,

Given that Ontario is not a major producer of crude oil, Ford’s threat appeared to specifically apply to electricity the United States imports from Canada.

In fact, such a cutoff would probably just hurt both countries' economies in the long run. And this isn't a one-sided relationship either! Adds the U.S. EIA,

More natural gas enters Michigan than is consumed in the state, and most of the excess is exported to Canada

Thanks to our advances in wind and solar energy, plus nuclear power and hydroelectric dams, Michiganders would definitely feel the impact but we should be able to make up the difference elsewhere. I definitely don't like the turn these negotiations have taken though. I thought Canada was supposed to be nice?