Lower-than-normal rain and snow have reduced Canada’s hydropower production, raising worries in the industry about the effects of climate change.

Lower-than-normal rain and snow have reduced Canada’s hydropower production, raising worries in the industry about the effects of climate change.

In February, the United States did something that it had not done in many years — the country sent more electricity to Canada than it received from its northern neighbor. Then, in March, U.S. electricity exports to Canada climbed even more, reaching their highest level since at least 2010.

The increasing flow of power north is part of a worrying trend for North America: Demand for energy is growing robustly everywhere, but the supply of power — in Canada’s case from giant hydroelectric dams — and the ability to get the energy to where it’s needed are increasingly under strain.

Many energy experts say Canadian hydroelectric plants, which have had to reduce electricity production because of a recent drop in rain and snow, will eventually bounce back. But some industry executives are worried that climate change, which has already been linked to the explosive wildfires in Canada last year, could make it harder to predict when rain and snowfall will return to normal.

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  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    1·
    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    But some industry executives are worried that climate change, which has already been linked to the explosive wildfires in Canada last year, could make it harder to predict when rain and snowfall will return to normal.

    “We’ve all got to be humble in the face of more extreme weather,” said Chris O’Riley, president and chief executive of the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, which operates hydroelectric dams in western Canada.

    Serge Abergel, chief operating officer for Hydro-Québec Energy Services, said Canada’s greater reliance on the United States had been a temporary way for hydro plants to save their water.

    But bringing that affordable power south is expensive — Canadian hydro energy costs homeowners in Massachusetts twice as much as it does residents of Quebec, according to an analysis by McCullough Research.

    Mr. McCullough, the consultant, said he worried that global warming could so strain reservoirs that it would no longer be feasible for Canadian utilities to keep enough water in reserve to make it through a very long dry spell.

    When drought and wildfires threaten areas around the Columbia River, hydroelectric plants and transmission lines that connect Canada, Washington, Oregon and California become vulnerable.

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