From St. Catharine's Standard.
The Smithville community is rallying around a local greenhouse operator after Niagara Peninsula Energy disconnected his power during a February cold snap and put his business at the brink of bankruptcy.
Rex Ge and his wife, Yafei, were on an extended visit to China to care for his aging parents earlier this year and were 28 days late paying a $359 electricity bill, said Scott Antonides, a friend of the couple.
During their absence, they missed the bill. They found a warning notice in their mailbox after the power had been cut.
The disconnect, which came when temperatures were plunging to -22°C overnight, burst pipes in the greenhouses and destroyed the family’s spring crop of nursery plants.
Rex estimates damage to the boiler, plants and pipes at more than $150,000.
Laura Fevez, the owner of neighbouring business The Dresser Drawer, has started a GoFundMe campaign to help Rex and Yafei, while Antonides, a science teacher at Smithville Christian High School, is trying to raise awareness and support for the couple’s plight.
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