Better Farming - December 2016

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RISING ELECTRICALCOSTS
than 15 customers for every kilometre
of power line used to supply energy in
the zone.”)
The subsidy won’t apply to the
7,155 farm accounts that fall under
Hydro One’s medium-density resi-
dential class or the 248 farm accounts
in the residential – urban high-densi-
ty class.
Nor will the Heemans’ business
qualify for the Industrial Conserva-
tion Initiative (ICI). Under this
program, businesses obtain price
reductions if they shift their peak to
off-peak periods in the province. The
Heeman operation’s peak power use is
at night and is already off-peak. But
to qualify for the program, businesses
must use on average at least one
megawatt of peak power, which the
Heeman farm, even in winter, doesn’t
come close to using.
Hydro One doesn’t know how
many farms will qualify for the ICI
program. The utility “is currently in
the qualifying period (from May 1,
2016, to April 30, 2017) which will
determine how many farms will
qualify,” says Nancy Clark, Hydro
One spokesperson, in an e-mail.
Nokes says he’s worried about
farms that occupy the general service
class. There is a danger these accounts
will slip through the cracks of energy
reform, he says.
If the farms use small amounts of
electricity, they are billed either
time-of-use or tiered rates. Tiered
rates charge one price for the first 750
kWh per month and another price for
kilowatt hours used over and above
that amount. Businesses drawing
more than 50 kW at any time during
the month also get billed for the
demand capacity of electricity they
need, “so those people get billed on
ensuring that they have capacity no
matter when they use it,” he says.
According to EnerNOC’s
EnergySMART website, “a kilowatt is
a measure of energy use at a given
moment, not over time.” In contrast, a
The digital hydro meter at the
Heeman farm is unable to
transmit readings to the utility.