B.C. unlikely to follow Ontario’s lead in slapping surcharge on power exports, premier says

“We’re working with other premiers and with the federal government on how we can support the Team Canada approach with no-tariff responses,” he said on March 5 about the possibility of B.C. imposing its own surcharges. […]

Eby also said he is working on “contingency planning” should things escalate.

For example, he noted the impacts of Elon Musk’s DOGE — Department of Government Efficiency — on B.C.'s power partners.

B.C.'s power grid is connected to the United States through the Bonneville Power Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that both buys from and sells to British Columbia, as needed.

The agency is down hundreds of positions following mass firings by the Trump administration. […]

Eby and Harrison both said B.C. has been hindered in the past because Alberta has its own regulatory scheme for managing power, focused around private providers, while B.C.'s grid relies on the publicly-owned B.C. Hydro.

But with increased interest in interprovincial trade, Eby said progress was being made on harmonizing standards to allow power to flow more freely across the Rockies, something Harrison applauded.

Eby also said similar conversations were happening with Yukon, where the barriers are more about geography and a lack of infrastructure rather than politics. […]

B.C. has also announced plans to rapidly increase its own power supply both through the finalization of the Site C dam and the fast-tracking of several wind power projects across the province.