The hydro rebate announced by the Ontario government this week will not help the greenhouse industry.
That statement from Peter Quiring, the owner of Nature Fresh Farms in Leamington.
His company owns 130 acres of greenhouses in Leamington, and 45 acres in Ohio.
Quiring claims rising electricity costs are quickly becoming one of his biggest expenses, and he says the eight per cent cut in his hydro bill does not go far enough.
In fact, Quiring says it’s not a real solution.
He is calling for a complete overhaul, and tells CTV Windsor “we need to completely rethink how we generate, distribute and sell electricity in the province of Ontario."
Leamington is known as the greenhouse capital of North America, but for how much longer?
Quiring points out the high cost of electricity in the province has forced “nearly half a billion dollars of investment to leave for the United States” where the cost for energy is cheaper.
Quiring says greenhouse growers have alternative solutions.
Growers are advocating the government to invest in infrastructure that would allow them to purchase and use the excess energy for grow lights, to stretch their season to day and night, year-round.
