Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province would charge 25% more for electricity shipped to the United States, a move aimed at 1.5 million American homes and businesses and pitched as a response to President Donald Trump’s trade war.

The AP report says the surcharge was to take effect on Monday and would apply to electricity Ontario provides to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. Ford framed the move as retaliation and warned that the province could go further if the dispute escalated. In the same announcement, he said he would not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely if necessary.

The announcement made electricity part of the wider Canada-U.S. trade confrontation. Ontario was not acting in isolation: the report says Canada had already imposed retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. goods, including orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles and certain pulp and paper products.

The immediate market impact appeared limited, but the political message was large. Minnesota Power said it bought only about $300,000 worth of electricity from Ontario last year and expected negligible impact on customers. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator also expected little effect on its grid operations from the Ontario move, while Michigan officials said the impact on customers would likely be small.

Even so, the report shows why the decision mattered beyond the direct volume of electricity involved. The U.S. and Canada share an interconnected electricity grid, and Michigan regulators warned that limiting or disrupting cross-border flows could remove a layer of protection and make both countries more vulnerable to grid-scale outages. That makes the issue not just one of pricing, but of reliability and regional energy security.

The reaction from U.S. leaders was immediate. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz criticized the trade conflict on social media, saying ordinary residents could end up paying more. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also ordered state energy officials to review the possible effect on electricity and other energy costs. Their responses underline the fact that trade disputes can quickly filter down to household bills and utility planning, even if the direct power volumes are small.

The AP account also notes that Ford’s move came despite a one-month reprieve from Trump, which Ontario considered insufficient. That suggests the province viewed the tariff pause as a delay rather than a resolution. Quebec, the report adds, was considering similar measures.

For now, the key facts are simple: Ontario announced a 25% surcharge on electricity shipped to the United States, the policy was tied to trade retaliation, and officials on both sides of the border were weighing limited immediate effects against broader risks to rates and grid stability.