Hydro rates jolt farmers
Brown visits Selwyn Township dairy farm where hydro bill has tripled over past decade
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown was in the Peterborough area Wednesday, speaking to local farmers who say they’re struggling to pay their hydro bills.
Brown visited the dairy farm owned by Randy Bullock in Selwyn Township.
The local farmer said his hydro bill has tripled over the last 10 years to nearly $2,000 a month – despite the fact that he’s been cutting back his energy usage.
“As a hard-working farm family, how do you make ends meet?” Brown said, standing outside at Bullock’s farm, Cedarvilla Holsteins.
“Tripling his bill, in 10 years? It’s unacceptable.”
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister and Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal wasn’t at the farm Wednesday.
But in an interview, he said the government has rebuilt Ontario’s energy transmission line in the last decade – a costly but necessary project.
Transmission is far more reliable now, Leal said.
There were no blackouts or brownouts in the sweltering summer of 2016, he said – and blackouts cause spoilage at dairy operations.
“It’s the last thing you want,” Leal said. Brown refuted this argument. “Mr. Leal has his talking points – but actually we’ve seen many brownouts,” he said. “Meanwhile astronomical increases on hydro bills have happened on the watch of this government.”
Brown’s visit came about after Bullock discussed his hydro bills with other farmers.
Mike Skinner, who ran for the Conservatives in the federal election in 2015, heard the talk – he’s the first vice-president of the Peterborough Agricultural Society.
Skinner was mentored by Brown, a former Barrie federal MP, as he ran his federal campaign in 2015.
Skinner asked Brown to come to Peterborough to speak with Bullock and other farmers (they also held a round-table discussion with Brown in the afternoon).
Skinner was at the farm along with Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott and Ryan Moore, the president of the Ag Society.
Bullock said he still has the same number of cows he did 10 years ago – 125.
He’s upgraded his farm’s milkcooling systems so they’re more energy-efficient, he said, and he milks cows by hand (he doesn’t have robotic milking systems running on hydro).
Still, he says his energy bills have tripled. He expected his bills to increase over time, he said – but not at that rate. “It’s too much,” Bullock said. Brown blames the provincial government, saying the “fire sale” of Hydro One was a decision that’s costing citizens dearly.
He was referring to the government’s decision to sell 60 per cent of the publically owned utility to private investors. Critics called it a way for the government to raise money for infrastructure projects without increasing taxes.
“The fire sale of Hydro One was a bad deal,” Brown said.
But Leal pointed out that the province is retaining 40 per cent ownership of Hydro One.