Behind the Lines - February 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The inspiration for this month's story came from our visit to Timiskaming District last September. We had just sent our October issue off to press, with a cover story about the challenges of new power charges on today's modern electricity hungry farms. When large-scale farm operator Norm Koch told us he was using a diesel generator to power his grain storage and dryer system rather than depend upon the grid, it underlined the concerns that farmers have about the perceived instability in regulated hydro electric prices.

We realized that we had missed something.

We hadn't talked to the farmers who were concerned about costs associated with hooking up to the grid and who were willing to do something about it on their own terms.

Effective Nov.1, 2009, Ontario electricity prices were set at either 5.8 cents per kWh or 6.7 cents kWh, depending upon the amount used, according to an Ontario Energy Board news release. But that excludes the cost of delivery and also the cost of the so-called "stranded debt" left over after the province had carved up the old and unwieldy Ontario Hydro. These prices are in effect until Apr. 30 of this year, when they will change again.

The charges also didn't take into account "time-of-use billing," slated to be rolled out in 2010. We hope that along with our cover story published last October, we have done justice to the issues that are involved.

Some of you, it seems, want to know more about our popular Crop Scene Investigation series. Herewith are the most frequent questions and answers:

Q. "What are my chances of winning?"
A.     Pretty good actually. Keep reading.

Q. "I know that the prize winner is selected from among all correct answers received for each topic, but how many correct answers do you actually receive each month?"
A. This has varied from a high of about 50 to a low one month of zero.

Q. "Do I have to write a detailed answer?"
A.    No, a single sentence will do. Often one or two words are enough. We do enjoy many of the lengthy answers we receive, though, so don't hold back. We might even quote you.

Q. "The prize is a wireless weather station, but what kind?"
A. That has varied over the years from several models of La Crosse Technology to our most recent batch of Oregon Scientific WMR 100s.  BF

Robert Irwin & Don Stoneman