A lot of happy farmers out there today thanks to a reversal by the Ontario Power Authority and the Provincial Government.
Over the weekend, the OPA and Government back tracked on the amount that would be paid to farmers using ground mounted solar panels to generate electricity.
Initially farmers were going to be paid 80 cents a kilowatt, but then July 2nd the Government reduced that rate to 58 cents.
That resulted in a storm of protest from farmers right across the province, as well as those who sell the solar equipment.
Now the OPA and Government have raised the rate to 64 cents a kilowatt and for anyone applied before July 2nd, the initial 80 cent rate will remain.
That decision has been called very positive news by the President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Betty Jean Crews.
She says the OFA and its members strongly lobbied the Government to re-consider the rate change which would have resulted in serious financial losses for many farmers.
Crews is pleased that the OPA and Government listened to Ontario’s farming community and honoured their initial promise.
She also says the decision to lower the price would have had an enormous impact on the people selling this equipment, because they ordered and bought it based on the original 80 cent a kilowatt price proposal.
Crews says this shows that in fact the voice of agriculture and rural Ontario is being heard at Queens Park.
