Organization says electricity is a key issue
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has weighed in on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s recent announcement to reduce hydro bills across the province by as much as 25 per cent.
Electricity is an important issue for the OFA and the organization’s continued pressure on the provincial government helped lead to the Premier’s announcement.
“OFA has pressed for lower distribution costs for several years, reminding the government that farmers and rural residents have been unfairly paying higher distribution costs than urban Ontarians,” OFA president Keith Currie said in a post on OFA’s website. “It creates energy poverty across our rural communities and disadvantages our farming businesses in a highly competitive domestic and global market.”
Under Wynne’s Ontario Fair Hydro Plan, all residents could see the cost of electricity reduced by about 25 per cent. Farmers and other residents of rural Ontario could see their bills reduced by nearly 30 per cent.
“This is good news for Ontario farmers and rural residents…,” Currie said. “The cost of electricity has dampened our provincial agriculture and agri-food sector’s growth. Energy is one of the largest inputs on the farm – with few fuel options – and it represents a significant cost to rural residents and local business owners.”
Ontario producers welcomed the cut but appeared skeptical about its motive.
“A price cut is nice, (but) it sounds like a padded response to dodge real issues,” Emma Butler, a beef producer from Chatham-Kent, told Farms.com.
“If you can drop the hydro rate by 25 per cent overnight, how long have we been overcharged on this necessary business utility?” asked Maaike Campbell, a producer from Lambton County.