By Geoff Hendry

Over the past year, Sustainable Kingston has been proud to play a role in helping homeowners reduce their carbon footprint through home energy retrofits. Outside of our energy coaching role with the Better Homes Kingston program, our priority has been to provide home energy assessments necessary for homeowners to qualify for grants through the Canada Greener Homes Program and Enbridge’s Home Energy Rebate Program.

As of January 1, 2023, these two programs have merged and, so far, it’s all good news!

Enbridge Gas and the Canada's Greener Homes Grant have partnered to provide rebates towards eligible retrofits such as home insulation, windows and doors, heat pumps, and renewable energy systems.

The new, co-ordinated Home Efficiency Rebate Plus program provides more funding and has increased the range of support available. This is great news for residents across the province, including customers who use natural gas to heat their homes and will benefit from enhanced rebates of up to $10,000. Participants can also offset the cost of their EnerGuide home evaluation with an additional rebate of $600.

Homes that qualify include:

·       Single Family Homes that are Enbridge Gas Customers

·       Single Family Homes that are Utilities Kingston Gas Customers will have the same incentives as the Canada Greener Homes program

·       Rental Properties that are also Enbridge Gas Customers

·       Some Multi-residential buildings (owners in low-rise/mixed use buildings)

For more details please visit the Enbridge Home Energy Efficiency Rebate Plus website

Sustainable Kingston’s Energy Services Manager, Cedric Pepelea is optimistic that this development will have a positive impact on both homeowners and our region at large: “It is truly a great time to be considering home energy improvements, with more grants, loans, and support than ever before” says Pepelea. “I was pleasantly surprised to see Enbridge Gas supporting the transition from natural gas heating to less carbon-intensive heating systems such as heat pumps and electric furnaces. With Enbridge Gas customers getting additional funds to effectively reduce their carbon emissions.”

For Pepelea, the long-term impact of these improvements shouldn’t be underestimated: “These greenhouse gas reductions are not only a one-time thing. They will continue to reduce emissions for the next 20 years and beyond. If you consider the scale of how many homes are participating and individual reductions they represent, it all adds up to significant and lasting action against climate change.”

So what’s the next step? Checking out the Home Energy Rebate Plus website will provide more answers. Or you can reach out to Sustainable Kingston at 613-547-8122 or energyserviecs@sustainablekingston.com.

Already engaged in the application process? No problem. We can help guide you through the new requirements.

As we look forward to another exciting year of in our Energy Services department, we at Sustainable Kingston are here to help you save energy, money and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.