Hearthmakers Surprised by Federal ecoENERGY Announcement
Kingston, ON (April 1, 2010) – It was no April Fool’s joke—like the rest of the country, Hearthmakers Energy Co-operative found out late yesterday that the non-profit organization’s most popular energy efficiency program was cancelled without warning.
Over the past several years, Hearthmakers has helped thousands of local residents save money and make their homes more energy efficient through the ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program. All that came to an end on Wednesday with the unexpected announcement the program will be cancelled early and homeowners will no longer be able to book pre-retrofit evaluations.
“The Harper administration cancelled the grant in 2006, reinstated it under public pressure in 2007 and now is pulling it again. Funding is provided and then funding is pulled away. This is no way to build a strong green economy and workforce in Canada” according to Steve Walker, Executive Director of Hearthmakers. “To date, less than 10 per cent of homes in Canada have been through an energy efficiency retrofit program. The end of new entries into the ecoENERGY program represents a tremendous lost opportunity to create green jobs and tackle national climate change issues.”
The program was very successful in the Kingston area, putting millions of dollars into the local economy and awarding thousands of dollars in grants to homeowners for making energy efficient upgrades to their homes. Since 2007, over $2.1 million in grants have been received by Hearthmakers clients. Typically with every grant dollar received, three are spent on contractors and supplies, translating into $6 million locally
“Making our old buildings energy efficient saves money and creates jobs.The Kingston area is a leader in taking advantage of the new green economy. So this news is especially unfortunate for our community”, said Ted Hsu, executive director of SWITCH, a local non-profit with a mandate to promote Kingston as an alternative energy hub. “About $300 million leaves the Kingston economy every year to pay for energy. Many of the cheapest ways to conserve energy, to say nothing of fighting climate change, involve energy retrofits for old buildings.”
Homeowners who already have an a pre-retrofit evaluation booked are able to continue in the program, and those who are in the midst of completing retrofits and energy efficient upgrades must complete the work and have their post evaluation by March 31, 2011 to qualify for grants under the program.
The Provincial government has been matching Federal grants to homeowners participating in the ecoENERGY program. As it appears that this announcement was a surprise even to them, it is unclear as to whether or not they will continue to provide grants moving forward.
