Owners of Ontario’s marijuana grow facility say energy rebate program left them high and dry

An Ontario business owner is calling out a provincial program set up to give rebates to businesses that make their facilities more energy efficient.

Brantford Micro Grow is a locally owned independent cannabis grower, equipped with several large high-tech machines used to rotate plants.

“Inside those machines are lights which are so important because cannabis is a light loving species, so you need a lot of lights,” said part owner David Winter.

Up until last year, the company was using HPS lights but decided to make a large investment by changing those to LED lights.

“Not only investing in our company, but investing in the environment, because these lights use far less electricity,” Winter said.

An added bonus in making the change: Ontario’s Save On Energy rebate program, which offers incentives to businesses that upgrade equipment to lower carbon footprints.

“It’s a great program on paper. You get $200 per fixture. We have four fixtures in each one of these machines. We have a total of 100 fixtures, that’s $20,000 we thought we were going to save.”

But Winter said he has run into problems getting that rebate money.

“We decided to spend a bit more to get quality LED lights from a Canadian company, but the program said these lights don’t meet the specifications,” he said. “I didn’t buy these off the shelf. If I had just gone out and spent less, I would have received my $200 per fixture, no problem, but I spent $3,000 per fixture, and now there has been all these hoops to try and prove these lights qualify.”

“It is a great program. I just don’t understand why they’re making it so difficult for us.”

According to a Spokesperson for Save On Energy — which is a third-party contractor hired by the government to run the program — there are set specifications for lights to get the refund, information they say is readily available to businesses before they apply. After the application is received there are important steps to follow to ensure the equipment meets the program requirements.

“The applicant has not provided key pieces of information after repeated requests to do so,” the spokesperson said about Brantford Micro Grow. “Further, the project did not seek pre-approval of their equipment selection before proceeding with their project.”

All claims Winter denies. He said he has gone above and beyond to prove his lights should meet the requirements.

“I did everything they wanted. I got the five-year warranty, which is required. I paid extra money out of my pocket for an independent lighting inspector to get the full spectrum analysis for this unit so I can hand it to them. But they’re not budging.”

Save on Energy confirmed that Winter sent them a lot of information but said some of the data provided failed to meet the program’s efficiency standards.

The spokesperson points out several other businesses, that meet the set requirements, have benefited from the program.

“Since 2021, more than 12,600 projects across Ontario have been pre-approved to receive a total of $365 million in funding. About 7,700 projects have already been completed.”

Winter is still hoping Save on Energy will reconsider, appealing their decision to reject his application.

“It is a great program I just don’t understand why they’re making it so difficult for us,” Winter said. “This is $20,000 and that’s a lot of money to a small, locally owned business. They say the program is to go from old technology to new technology. Go from the HPS to the LED lights. I have done all of that.”

If you have an issue, story or question you’d like us to report on, reach out here.