B.C. Efficiency Incentive Program Out Of Funds

LIVESMART BC:

EFFICIENCY INCENTIVE PROGRAM ENDS

VICTORIA – Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, today announced that the LiveSmart BC: Efficiency Incentive Program has reached its three-year target of 40,000 initial home energy assessments in only 15 months. The $60-million program is now fully committed and as such, will no longer provide incentives to new participants, effective end of business Aug. 15, 2009.

The program was launched in May 2008 to run for three years, as part of the Energy Efficient Buildings Strategy. The Province implemented this innovative, one-stop shop program to provide homeowners with co-ordinated, easy access to provincial, utility partner and federal incentives. To date, 11,000 homeowners have completed efficiency retrofits.

Homeowners currently in the program have up until March 31, 2011, or 18 months after their initial energy assessment, to complete their retrofits and follow-up energy assessment, and will receive the rebates and incentives that are listed in the current LiveSmart BC: Efficiency Incentive Program incentive chart at www.livesmartbc.ca.

Homeowners entering the program on or after Aug. 16, 2009 are still eligible for the federal ecoENERGY program incentives, which have recently been increased by 25 per cent.

Ministry staff will continue to administer LiveSmart for homeowners who have entered the program, and are working with LiveSmart program partners on a future version of the Efficiency Incentive Program.

The Province remains committed to supporting energy efficiency and conservation in British Columbia, and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent and acquiring 50 per cent of BC Hydro’s incremental resource needs through conservation by 2020.