Alberta Gives Green for Going Green

Has the thought of improving your home for energy efficiency been pushed to the back burner in this current economic climate? Delay no longer! The provincial government is now rewarding Albertans, who make energy efficiency purchases and upgrades in their homes, with cash rebates.

Just what kind of rebates are we talking about?  If you purchase a new home with a high energy-efficiency rating, you could get up to $10,000.  If you purchase an ENERGY STAR® clothes washer, you can get $100 back.  If you replace your old furnace with a high-efficiency furnace (92% or higher), you can receive $500.  If you participate in the federal government's ecoENERGY Retrofit Program, the province is providing complementary funding for insulation and domestic hot water upgrades.  Not only that, the provincial government will give you a rebate on the home energy evaluation itself - $100 for the initial evaluation and $100 for the follow-up evaluation.  It's now a no-brainer to join in this process and begin making your home as energy efficient as possible.

The province is partnering with Climate Change Central to deliver this rebate program to Albertans.  These rebates come as a follow-up to some initial pilot programs for energy efficiency undertaken a few years ago.  The pilot programs were always oversubscribed proving this is what Albertans want.  Now the province is going at this big time by providing 36 million dollars with a full menu of upgrades available.

“The challenge of climate change doesn’t go away during an economic downturn,” says John Rilett, Vice President of Climate Change Central. “That’s why it makes sense to tie an economic stimulus to energy efficiency.”

There is still a lot of work to be done to improve energy efficiency in this province. Currently, only seven per cent of the furnaces in Alberta homes are high-efficiency models. Pilot rebate projects have proven what’s possible when you swap out old wasteful appliances for new efficient technology. The results for previous clothes washer and furnace rebate programs alone have already reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions by 14,076 tonnes in our province. The clothes washers purchased through the pilot rebates are continually saving a staggering 399 million litres of water a year!

Accessing your money is easy with the option of applying online. In addition, you can use a handy tool to ensure the make and model of an appliance you are considering purchasing meets the qualifying energy efficiency standards.  “Where can I see my rebates?” you ask. Visit www.ClimateChangeCentral.com and we’ll show you the money.