Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford says he feels “terrible” for the American people about the whopping 25 percent tariff he's placing on his province's exports of electricity to the United States. His sympathies stop at the doors to the White House, however, where the present occupant is, according to Ford, the “one person who is responsible” for what threatens to become an international trade war.

Ford's office estimates the tariff will affect “1.5 million homes and businesses in Michigan, Minnesota and New York” and generate revenues to Ontario of as much as $400,000 a day. “I will do whatever it takes to maximize the pain against the Americans,” Ford was quoted by the Wall Street Journal. “And I hate saying that, Americans, because it’s not them. It’s President Trump.”

For his part, Trump, writing on his Truth Social website, called Ford a “tariff abuser” and vowed to recoup any payments to Canada through reciprocal tariffs. “The United States is not going to be subsidizing Canada any longer,” Trump wrote. “We don't need your Cars, we don't need your Lumber, we don't your Energy, and very soon, you will find that out.”

Trump went further this morning, announcing a doubling of tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum and promising to declare a “national emergency” for New York and other states impacted by Canadian export tariffs. As a final solution, Trump speculated on the benefits to both nations of Canada as a 51st state.

Ulster County should be minimally affected by Ford's electricity tariffs, however, since Central Hudson & Gas, like other New York utilities, purchases its electricity via the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which oversees the state's bulk electricity grid. The grid as a whole used nearly 4,000 gigawatt hours of electricity from Ontario in 2023, less than 3 percent of the nearly 150,000 gigawatt hours the state consumed that year.

NYISO offered a reassuring statement on the situation, saying it is “analyzing the impacts of the order by the Ontario Premier and working closely with the Independent Electricity Operator of Ontario to ensure a reliable grid and stable flows of electricity across interregional transmission lines. The NYISO expects to have adequate reserves to meet reliability criteria and forecasted demand for New York.”

Still, on Feb. 28, NYISO and other regional system operators took the precautionary move of petitioning the federal government to approve rules for the collection and remittance of tariffs on electricity imported from Canada.

Ford (not to be confused with his brother, the late Rob Ford, whose time as mayor of Toronto was marked by his substance abuse issues and other scandals) made his move in response to Trump's imposing tariffs of 25 percent on all Canadian goods except oil.

Trump put a one-month hold on that after talks with the Canadian government but that failed to satisfy Ford. “Until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario won’t back down,” he said in a press release. “We’ll stand strong, use every tool in our toolkit and do whatever it takes to protect Ontario.”

Meanwhile, Central Hudson is “working closely with NYISO as they assess the potential impacts of Ontario’s tariffs,” company media rep Joe Jenkins said in a press release. “But at this time it is not clear how, or if, these tariffs will impact homes and businesses here in the Mid-Hudson Valley.”

Democratic officials Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer have also entered the fray, penning a joint letter to New York's Department of Public Service (DPS) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), directing them to undertake “an expeditious review of President Trump’s tariffs and the retaliatory measures being taken by Ontario Premier Doug Ford to provide a transparent accounting of their effects on energy prices and supply reliability.”

Locally, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey slammed the Trump administration for “using tariffs as weapons,” saying “Washington’s decision to start a trade war with Canada has resulted in retaliatory tariffs that will significantly raise costs on consumers, especially on our utility bills.”

"This news is all the more reason for the governor to instruct NYPA to use its newly granted authority to unleash an era of green and affordable publicly owned energy like FDR did during his tenure,” Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha told Kingston Wire. “It would reduce our reliance on Canada and lower our bills."