A recent provincial announcement to spend $100-million to help get rural Ontario off electric heat and into natural gas is getting a thumbs up from the Kent Federation of Agriculture.
However, board member Louis Roesch says there are still a lot of details to be worked out with the grant program and many aspects that are being over-looked.
He says natural gas would help expand smaller rural communities, adding "as we expand, some of the smaller towns like Ridgetown and Blenheim are more attractive for people to move to."
Natural gas would help attract industry to rural towns, Roesch says and adds "gas is the cheapest source of fuel for these plants."
He says natural gas would help keep schools open and keep industry in rural Ontario.
Roesch says the KFA is working with the OFA to submit grant proposals for the area.