Power Wars, EV Revolution & Texas Nuclear Boom!

A high-stakes power struggle is unfolding at the US-Canadian border as Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatens to "shut electricity off completely" to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota in response to Trump administration tariffs. This 25% retaliatory tariff represents approximately $7 USD per megawatt-hour, potentially creating significant economic inefficiencies for consumers on both sides of the border.

The western power market landscape is shifting dramatically with Bonneville Power Administration's draft decision to join Southwest Power Pool's Markets Plus platform instead of California ISO's competing market. Despite potentially greater financial benefits from the California option, BPA cited concerns about governance, resource adequacy, and carbon accounting. With BPA controlling 22.4 gigawatts of hydroelectric power and thousands of transmission miles, this decision signals a significant realignment in western energy markets.

Vehicle-to-grid technology is advancing rapidly, with Kia taking pre-orders for its Quasar 2 home charger and accompanying hardware to enable bidirectional charging from its EV9 electric SUV. The $6,440 system will allow owners to use their vehicles for home backup power and grid services. Meanwhile, Nuvi secured a $400 million contract from New Mexico to electrify state vehicle fleets and build vehicle-to-grid infrastructure. In Texas, ambitious plans for 30 micro-nuclear reactors near Dallas aim to power the region's booming data center industry, though regulatory hurdles and public opposition remain significant barriers. The Lone Star State is also grappling with unusually low wind speeds, which have decreased wind generation by 18% compared to last year, forcing record fossil fuel use at a time when spring maintenance would normally occur. What does this mean for grid reliability as we head into summer?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've got your energy stories for this the second week
of March 2025.
And for the first one, let'sfile it under the.
What did you think would happenAfter the Trump administration
slapped tariffs on imports fromCanada, including a 10% levy on
power?
Ontario Premier Doug Ford saidhe would impose 25% tariffs on
power flowing to Michigan, newYork and Minnesota.

(00:22):
Ford also warned quote I willnot hesitate to increase this
charge.
If Ford also warned quote Iwill not hesitate to increase
this charge.
If the United States escalates,I will not hesitate to shut the
electricity off completely.
Per Bloomberg, the tariff willcome in at $10 Canadian or
roughly US $7 per megawatt hourIn 2023,.
New York imported 4.4% of itstotal juice from Canada, while

(00:44):
Michigan and Minnesota importedabout 0.5%.
Tariff wars create enormouseconomic inefficiencies and they
raise prices for all affectedparties.
They can sometimes helpstimulate domestic production,
but often the eye-for-an-eyeapproach just leaves us all
blind or at least visuallyimpaired.
The Bonneville PowerAdministration, bpa, announced a

(01:06):
draft plan to join theSouthwest Power Pool's Markets
Plus real-time and day-aheadmarket instead of the competing
extended day-ahead market EDAMbeing launched by the California
Independent System Operator.
Bpa said that, although Kaiso'sEDAM may offer greater
financial benefits, the SPPmarket more closely aligns with
BPA.

(01:27):
With respect to issues relatedto governance, bpa objected to
Kaiso operating the system, aswell as resource adequacy,
carbon accounting and otherissues.
Bonneville plans on a finaldecision in May.
The result will be twooverlapping and intertwined
Western dayhead power markets.
Overlapping and intertwinedwestern dayhead power markets.

(01:49):
Bpa is no small player with22.4 gigawatts of energy coming
from federal dams and thousandsof miles of high voltage lines
over which it delivers powerlargely to municipal utilities,
public power districts andco-ops.
Well Key is moving towardsgreater V2X capabilities, saying
it was taking pre-orders forthe wall box Quasar 2 home
charger and accompanyinghardware to accommodate

(02:10):
bi-directional charging from its76 kilowatt hour EV9 electric
SUV.
The combined vehicle andcharger system will enable both
home backup power supply as wellas vehicle to grid
functionality.
The charging equipment,including the Quasar 2 charger
and a power recovery unit griddisconnect switch, will sell for
$6,440.

(02:32):
Pre-order is limited toresidents of California, florida
, illinois, new Jersey, new York, texas and Washington, with a
later nationwide expansionplanned, also in vehicle-to-grid
.
Nuvi was recently awarded acontract from the state of New
Mexico for up to $400 millionover the next four years to
deliver a comprehensive turnkeyelectrification solution to

(02:55):
support New Mexico'szero-emission vehicle adoption
and renewable energy goals.
The contract includes $150million to support
electrification of New Mexico'splanned school bus fleet of
2,000-plus buses, as well as$250 million to support the
electrification of New Mexico's3,500 transit and state-owned

(03:16):
vehicles.
Key charging solutions,vehicle-to-grid and microgrid
development, development ofhighway charging corridors,
specification of state vehiclepurchases and creation of as
many as two dozenvehicle-to-grid hubs.
Utah just passed legislation ona unanimous vote in both the

(03:37):
House and the Senate to allow1.2 kilowatt or smaller portable
solar devices to be pluggeddirectly into standard 120-volt
wall sockets without requiringany interconnection requests to
the utility.
Solar assets must be compliantwith the National Electrical
Code and Underwriters Labscertification standards.

(03:57):
Now let's move to Texas.
Modular nuclear reactor startupLast Energy announced plans to
build 30 micro-reactors in Texas, near the Dallas-Fort Worth
area, which is rapidly becomingground zero for projected data
centers in the state.
Texas already hosts over 340data centers, with more on the
way from the likes of Google andOpenAI's Stargate.

(04:19):
Numerous modular nuclearreactor companies have announced
big plans to serve the datacommunity, but until we see some
real progress, such as NuclearRegulatory Commission design
approval and the construction ofthe factories that will make
these machines, it's pretty muchtalk, with lots that could go
wrong in the meantime.
Then there are the issuesrelated to siting, security of

(04:40):
nuclear materials and waste.
If you think buildingtransmission lines or wind farms
brings up the NIMBYs, you canprobably expect the opposition
to go nuclear over thesefacilities, especially in some
parts of the country that aremore densely populated.
And finally, reuters reportsthat a lengthy period of low
wind speeds in Texas, combinedwith strong demand, has resulted

(05:03):
in record high output fromfossil fleets thus far this year
.
As a result, some fossilgenerators may shorten or delay
planned maintenance outagebreaks this spring during the
shoulder demand period.
Wood operator ERCOT stated thatapproximately 17 percent of the
approximate 85,000 megawatts ofthermal capacity was scheduled
for maintenance in March, butlow wind turbine output, which

(05:26):
is usually quite robust in thewinter, is largely keeping this
from happening.
Affected by low wind speeds,february wind turbine output
fell 18% below last year'slevels, with wind energy
representing 26% of ERCOT'sgeneration last month, versus a
36 percent share the previousyear.
This could represent a criticalchallenge coming into the

(05:49):
warmer weather ahead.
Well, that's all for this week.
Thanks for watching and we'llsee you again soon.