In 2018, 61.4 million MW of Canadian electricity was exported to the U.S. A numbered company’s request to sell energy equals 7.3 percent of 2018’s demand.
Few details are known about the ability for third parties to broker electricity, or a numbered company that applied to the Canadian Energy Regulator for a 10-year export permit to deliver 4.5 Terawatt hours (TWh) of Ontario electricity to the United States.
According to the Government of Canada’s official newspaper Canada Gazette, “11772244 Canada Inc. has applied to… export up to 4,500,000 MWh of combined firm and interruptible energy annually for a period of 10 years.”
Published in the Canada Gazette on Dec. 21, 2019, barely two weeks after the numbered company was registered, the notice lists Felix Levesque as a director and company headquarters in Montreal.
“We’re just a market wholesaler, not a market generator,” Levesque told The Post Millennial.
Levesque said the numbered company’s venture involves several individuals but declined to elaborate.
“I’m not alone, there are other people but that’s discretionary [information],” he said.
“You have middlemen and you have power generators and some of the power generators are also acting as middlemen by speculating on the energy prices. It’s quite a complex market.”
Before ending the brief telephone interview, Levesque said that the destination for his company’s electricity, “could be Michigan, it could be New York state.”
According to the Department of Natural Resources, 61.4 Terrawatts (61.4 million MW) of Canadian-generated electricity was exported to the United States in 2018, making the Levesque’s and company’s permit volume request equal to 7.3 percent of that year’s stateside demand.
“These notices invite interested parties to file a response with the Commission if there is a concern, relating to the impact of the export on neighbouring provinces,” said Canada Energy Regulatory spokesperson Sarah Kiley.
“Or if there is a concern related to fair market access–the ability of Canadian companies to purchase electricity at similar conditions, including price.”
Asked about the possible power brokerage deal, Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator responded with the following:
“The total export quantity referenced in an application is an estimate from the applicant. The actual export of electricity is based on whether a bid to export is economically competitive with other participants in Ontario’s electricity market, and if the grid is physically able to accommodate the transaction,” writes IESO’s media relations.
“Export authorization by the CER is separate from the electricity export licence required by the Ontario Energy Board, and from registration as an energy trader with the IESO.”
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