Bruce County

Electricity And Life In Huron, Bruce And Grey Counties

By Jim ⋅ October 31, 2007 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

"Stray Voltage" is an Important Issue Affecting Farmers in Huron, Bruce, Grey and other counties in southwestern Ontario.

This is something that Living in the Country will be following closely over the next several months. We are establishing a "stray voltage" category on the site and will keep you up-to-date.

Clearly, this is a very serious issue facing farmers in our area. From Bayshore Broadcasting in Owen Sound:

"The Ontario Energy Board will be holding a series of meetings over the upcoming weeks to address the problem of "stray voltage" on farms. This comes as welcome news to the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture.

Past President Bob Emerson calls the action long  overdue. He says stray or tingle voltage is a very real problem that causing economic pain and suffering to farmers and their livestock.

This is particularly true in the dairy sector where barn operations utilize a lot more electricity. It is not uncommon to have stray voltage make its way into cattle water troughs causing a small shock to the animals every time they drink. As a result cattle drink less and their milk supply is reduced.

Emerson says the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has been lobbying the Ontario Energy Board to do something about this problem for quite some time now.

Stray or tingle voltage can be caused by leaked electricity from grounding wires from utility poles or transmission lines and electrified farm buildings. Stray voltage has been linked to reduced milk and meat production in livestock and in some cases even death."

Living in the Country will be consulting its own experts on this issue and will keep you informed of the current state of affairs and new developments.

Our farmers want someone to be held accountable and take responsibility for this phenomenon, which is affecting their livelihood.

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