Veteran business writer Diane Francis has called for the US and Canada to better integrate their energy systems. In her view, it would enable energy self-sufficiency, transition to alternative sources, and it would keep costs to energy consumers down. She also calls for the Energy East project to be revived.
Ms. Francis notes some of the problems and anomalies that characterize the current state of affairs. They include the resistance in the US – apparently on environmental grounds – to Hydro-Québec’s proposal to export renewable, low-emission hydroelectricity to New England. At the same time, oil and gas rich Canada imports offshore crude into eastern markets. Particularly troubling is the threat by the State of Michigan to shut down Enbridge Inc’s Line 5, which delivers western Canadian crude to eastern Canadian markets. The line traverses a portion of the state and, as a result, risks de-certification by state authorities.