Electric power statistics, April 2014
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Released: 2014-06-26
Electric power generation in Canada was down 0.9% from the same month in 2013 to 47.6 million megawatt hours (MWh) in April, the lowest total generation level since September 2013. Hydro power decreased 1.4% year over year to 30.2 million MWh in April, below the yearly average of 32.2 million MWh.
Chart 1
Electricity generation
Steam generation in Canada, in turn, saw the largest increase, up 3.3% from the same month a year earlier to 7.0 million MWh in April. Much of the gain was the result of increased production in Alberta.
Canada's consumption was unchanged from the same month a year earlier at 44.8 million MWh in April. Generation by utilities was down 0.5% to 44.3 million MWh. Industrial generation declined 6.7% to 3.4 million MWh.
Electric power generation in Ontario fell 4.7% year over year to 11.3 million MWh in April. Ontario's largest production sector, nuclear generation, declined 3.9% to 6.9 million MWh, while hydro generation rose 4.8% to 3.1 million MWh.
In Alberta, production was up 8.9% compared with April 2013 to 5.3 million MWh in April. Steam generation increased 13.9% to 3.9 million MWh, up slightly from the yearly average of 3.8 million MWh.
Chart 2
Electricity generation by type
Canada's total imports from the United States rose 9.2% from the same month in 2013 to 1.3 million MWh in April. British Columbia imported more electricity than any other province, up 4.5% to over 1.1 million MWh.
Total exports to the United States declined 8.1% from the same month a year earlier to 4.2 million MWh in April. Quebec continued to export more electricity than any other province, sending 1.8 million MWh to the United States in April, down 9.9%.
Note to readers
The purpose of this report is to produce a consistent monthly indicator of the supply of electricity in Canada, a key input in the calculation of monthly gross domestic product.
Total net electricity generation for Canada and the provinces combines all of the electricity generated from sources including hydro, steam, nuclear, internal combustion, wind, solar and tidal.
Total available electricity is the total electricity generation, minus deliveries, plus receipts of electricity.
All data on import and exports are provided directly by the National Energy Board.
Data for February and March 2014 have been revised.
Contact information
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