Rising hydro costs are having an impact on various groups around the province, including recreational facilities.

While officials with the North Bay Granite Club say rising rates do impact them, they’ve been able to address the issue.

President Mark Brown says they’ve reinvested profits from hosting provincial and national events into retrofit programs.

“Particularly for hydro, putting in a new lighting system and the new upgraded lights in the lounge and that type of thing. We’re able to address our consumption, but you have to have the capital to invest in those programs,” he said.

That’s where it becomes a concern for some other clubs.

“But, the smaller clubs, all they can really do is increase membership fees to offset those hydro costs and as soon as you increase fees, of course, you potentially reduce the number of people willing to pay that additional increase and the membership drops,” Brown added.

He says small, northern clubs with two or three sheets can’t host those larger events and can’t generate the additional revenue needed to re-invest in their facilities.