Article on New York Trying to Poach Ontario Businesses with Cheap Electricity

With Ontario's electricity prices continuing their upward much far more than inflation, this article from the Watertown Daily Times about New York State trying to lure Ontario businesses was inevitable. Not the article itself, but the poaching.

“In all of our inquiries with potential firms, power is an issue,” IDA Executive Director Patrick J. Kelly said. “If we bring that message to them, hopefully it becomes an item of interest.”

The potential of low-cost power opens the door to other discussions about opportunities in the county, Mr. Kelly said.

The IDA sent out mailers this month to various Ontario businesses encouraging them to expand across the border. The brochure pushes low-cost economic development power available through the New York Power Authority’s Preservation Power Program and low-cost power through the St. Lawrence River Valley Redevelopment Agency.

The IDA’s marketing strategy has not been lost in Ontario, where a recent article in the Brockville Recorder on the energy crisis noted that St. Lawrence County is contacting Canadian firms to promote electricity rates that are 50 percent less than those in Ontario, which are the highest in North America. 

Highest in North America (I'm not sure if Hawaii is included here) and 50% less? For any company where electricity isn't trivial this is going to be an ongoing problem. Especially since in Ontario electricity prices are supposed to continue to rise far faster than inflation over the next five years. Ontario manufacturing was hit hard by the recession, but high electricity prices aren't helping.