Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO provided updated information concerning the: (1) status of long-term firm-power contracts between Canadian utilities and utilities in the northeastern United States; and (2) reliability of one of the Canadian utility power systems serving northeastern United States utilities.
GAO found that: (1) since 1986, northeastern U.S. utilities had signed two long-term firm-power contracts and one preliminary agreement with Canadian utilities, all with the utility in question; (2) U.S. utilities established operational limits on the amount of electricity imported from the Canadian utility at any one time, due to technical reliability concerns about major power outages; (3) the Canadian utility developed plans to make significant transmission improvements that should encourage U.S. utilities to lift the operational limit; and (4) although U.S. utilities experienced power curtailments in 1988 due to severe winter weather conditions, the Canadian utility's planned system improvements would reduce the likelihood of such system-wide outages.
