A billion-dollar Alberta government cash injection to offset sky rocketing natural gas prices was the savior of the greenhouse business, said its president.
“It’s been our saving grace,” said Lyle Conway of Eckville.
“Prior to getting this rebate, five greenhouses already closed their doors,” said Conway, president of the Alberta Greenhouse Growers Association.
“It was very, very severe.”
Last week, the Alberta government announced several rebates to offset rising energy prices.
Greenhouse growers and mushroom producers will get $5 million under the province’s Farm Income Assistance Program.
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The 40 cent per square foot payment to greenhouse growers is equivalent to the $10.29 per arable acre payment and $3 per acre pasture payment paid to farmers last fall, said Michael Lohner, executive assistant to agriculture minister Ty Lund.
“Agriculture is a huge user of natural gas,” said Lohner.
There are 363 commercial greenhouse operations and half a dozen mushroom farms in Alberta. The total greenhouse and mushroom production area in the province is about 275 acres.
“The greenhouse industry is a strong industry and deserving,” said Conway.
Most commercial greenhouses had signed floral and vegetable contracts with stores before the natural gas price increases and couldn’t pass on the expense to their clients.
In December 1999, the gas bill for Conway’s greenhouse was $1,700. This December he paid $4,300. The price of natural gas has doubled since then.
“This increase has hit us very, very hard.”
Other rebates
Greenhouse growers will also be eligible for loans and other energy rebates announced by the government, as it prepares for an expected election call:
- Natural gas rebates for Alberta homeowners will be increased from $50 a month to $150 a month for the winter period (Jan. 1-April 30).
- A commercial program will provide rebates equivalent to $6 per gigajoule. The commercial rebate applies only to the first 5,000 gigajoules consumed each month from Jan. 1 to April 30 by each user.
- A commercial rebate program will assist non-profit organizations, small businesses and industrial operations.
- A $5 million contingency fund will help low-income Albertans and non-profit groups that have a demonstrated need for further assistance.
When all the energy rebates are totaled, every two-person household will receive a $1,680 rebate, and it will cost the government about $4.1 billion.
“Alberta’s natural gas belongs to all Albertans, and they have told our government that in times of high prices such as we’re seeing this winter, the revenues from that gas should be returned to them,” said premier Ralph Klein, when he announced the rebates.
While farmers may view the natural gas rebates as a godsend, applying the rebates to most farms will be a logistical nightmare, said Mike Heck, president of the Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops.
“It’s pretty complicated,” he said.
It’s not uncommon to have more than one residence, a farm shop, and a barn on a single rural gas meter. The co-ops must figure out how to apply two rebates for two separate homes on a single bill, plus figure out how much of the $6 per gigajoule rebate the farm is eligible for.
“It’s a great deed the province has helped out rural Alberta,” said Heck, “but it’s tough for the co-ops to understand and administer.”
The federation is in the process of designing a question and answer form to help gas co-ops and producers.
