Essex Linen Struggles with Rising Utility Rates

TRSA international operator member Essex Linen Supply Ltd., Windsor, Ontario, Canada, is dealing with headwinds as a result of rising hydroelectric power and utility prices in its operating area, according to media reports.

The company, started in 1965 by Don Stoyshin, is now seeing its fourth generation of family members become involved in the business out of necessity. Since Ontario began adding cap-and-trade charges to hydro bills in January, family members such as Chase Stoyshin, 22, a full-time student at St. Clair College, have stepped up their involvement in the business.

“It’s something that comes right off our bottom line,” Chase Stoyshin said of the new costs. Lance Stoyshin, Chase’s father, said that Essex Linen invested heavily in energy efficient equipment in 2000. However, the company’s tunnel washer, ironers and dryers still require a lot of energy to run. Lance Stoyshin said that annual electricity costs have gone up by $16,000 in the last five years, an increase of 63%, according to the report. With the bills rising, Chase Stoyshin said that, increasingly, “the family has to jump in … working longer hours and after hours to get things done.”

Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Matt Marchad said that the cost of power in Ontario is the chamber membership’s No. 1 concern. Many of these businesses have either moved, or are contemplating a move, across the border to Michigan and Ohio, the article noted. In January, the province eliminated its 8% tax on hydro bills for consumers and qualifying businesses. However, Essex Linen didn’t receive this reduction, the report noted.

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