British Columbia's natural gas distributor says its request for customers to cut back on their usage will last right through the winter, and that could affect more than just the temperature in your home.

Without a steady gas supply, some vegetable farms may delay planting, potentially leading to empty shelves and higher prices when their product does make it to market.

"You may not see good local greenhouse vegetables on the shelves until April-May instead of February-March," said Linda Delli Santi, executive director of the BC Greenhouse Growers' Association. "Our members will sell their product at a higher price to recover their cost."

Crews are still working to repair a 900-PSI natural gas line operated by Enbridge that ruptured northeast of Prince George earlier this month, creating a serious shortage of the fuel across the province's southwest. A neighbouring 30-inch pipeline also had to be turned off to ensure the safety of crews, but has been operating at a reduced capacity since Oct. 11.

"The work they're doing right now, they've told us, ‘We'll get the pipeline back to 80 per cent operating levels’… so that's 20 per cent less than we were anticipating having over the winter… so we're still going to be constrained about the amount of gas we have," said FortisBC spokesperson Doug Stout.

That request to conserve natural gas, Fortis added, could stretch through to March of next year.

"We're asking customers to reduce their gas demand as much as possible," Stout said.

Many municipalities in Metro Vancouver are turning down the heat at city-run facilities such as rec centres and libraries.

Delli Santi said members of the growers' association will also try to run as efficiently as possible by sealing in warmth with screens and re-using the carbon dioxide exhaust from the growing process, but said less heat ultimately means a smaller, slower yield.

"We've already tightened up what we do already and there's no wiggle room left," she said.

The industry wants the province to try to ensure the gas keeps flowing to B.C. greenhouses so that what's inside can keep growing.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber