New York imported 52 gigawatt-hours of electricity from Canada on July 3, the largest volume of cross-border power traded between the two regions since January 2025, as a heat wave pushed electricity demand higher across the state, the US Energy Information Administration said on Monday.
Part of the imported electricity flowed over the Champlain Hudson Power Express, a new transmission line linking Quebec with New York City that entered commercial service in May following three years of construction.
Hot weather drove electricity demand in the New York Independent System Operator territory sharply higher during the first week of July. The grid operator recorded a peak hourly load of 31,097 megawatts at 7:00 pm EDT on July 2, approaching last summer's seasonal peak of 31,857 MW, which occurred on June 24, 2025. New York's all-time record peak load remains 33,956 MW, set in July 2013.
Canadian electricity imports met about 9% of NYISO's demand on July 3. Hydro-Quebec supplied an average of 1,400 MW each hour, while Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator provided an average of 800 MW. The 1,250-MW CHPE transmission line, which connects Hydro-Quebec's grid with the NYISO system, operated at full capacity throughout the day.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority estimates the CHPE line could eventually supply up to 20% of New York City's electricity demand. Although the project helped support the grid during the July heat wave, the transmission line experienced an outage in June and was taken offline again on July 4 for additional repairs.
Electricity imports from Canada into both NYISO and ISO New England have declined in recent years as drought conditions reduced hydroelectric generation in Quebec. However, both regional grid operators have expanded transmission capacity to access Canadian hydropower, a trend that could boost future imports if hydroelectric output recovers.