Ontario Growers Brace for 40 Cents/kWh Power, Advised to Dim LEDs Instead of Switching Off
Updated
Updated · hortidaily.com · Jul 7
Ontario Growers Brace for 40 Cents/kWh Power, Advised to Dim LEDs Instead of Switching Off
1 articles · Updated · hortidaily.com · Jul 7
Summary
40 cents per kWh winter power prices in Ontario prompted consultant Piet Hein van Baar to urge growers to plan now, warning that simply switching off lights can destroy productive crops and erase any short-term savings.
Dimming LEDs is the safer response, he said, but only if growers also cut temperature, base irrigation on plant evaporation and slab drydown, and sometimes raise nutrient concentration as water volumes fall.
17-to-40-cent price spikes last winter far exceeded the usual 3-to-4-cent range, with daytime rates especially painful and nighttime hours offering better opportunities for supplemental lighting.
Ageing infrastructure, nuclear maintenance, coal phase-out, gas, grid underinvestment, market-rule changes and rising demand from electrification and data centers all helped drive the surge, and van Baar expects pressure on the regional grid to keep energy costs rising.
Fixed-price contracts currently look too expensive for many growers, while CHP remains constrained because feeding power back to the grid is not allowed, leaving cultivation adjustments and planting-date changes as the main tools to protect winter production.