Greenhouse owner says Hydro shut off cost him $150,000

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A hydro horror story has destroyed a Smithville greenhouse business. Greenhouse owner Rex Ge returned from a trip to China two weeks ago, to find the hydro to his greenhouse shut off, and all of his plants killed by the deep freeze. The shutoff order was given, over an overdue bill of 364-dollars. Before he left in December to visit his ailing parents in China, Rex Ge paid his outstanding bills. When he returned, he walked into his Smithville greenhouse on February 25th. It looked fine. The next morning he went back in – everything was frozen.

“All is gone, all is gone”. Plants were dead. Pipes burst. It was freezing inside. When he went to his mailbox he saw a shutoff notice from Niagara Peninsula energy. They had shut the power off overnight, it was minus 22 degrees outside.

Niagara Peninsula Energy says it allows for 21 days from its bill date for a customer to make payment – collection activity does not occur until 20 days later, when a new bill has been sent out and is also due. They say they work with customers to avoid a shutoff.

Mr. Ge estimates the loss at 150 thousand dollars, just before the start of the spring planting season.