People in Alberta’s agriculture industry who use a lot of natural gas in non-winter months will now be eligible for natural gas rebates.
Changes to the Natural Gas Rebate Program will allow those who operate grain dryers and forage dehydrators, irrigate crops or operate commercial greenhouses to pick the months they use the most natural gas for their rebate.
“We wanted to ensure that these agricultural users were offered the same benefits as other natural gas users,” said Terry Holmes with Alberta Agriculture.
Natural gas rebates kick in during the cold winter months when natural gas use is the highest. But for some agriculture operators, winter is not when they use the most gas.
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Rebates are triggered when consumer prices for two of the three regulated utility companies, Atco Gas North, Atco Gas South and AltaGas Utilities, exceed $5.50 per gigajoule. For most Albertans, consumption is highest between November and March.
This year there were natural gas rebates in April, June, July and September.
Under the changes to the program, agriculture users can choose any five months they want to receive their rebate, but their selection must be in to government offices by Jan. 31, 2004.
Next year producers must choose five consecutive months.
