P.E.I. no longer accepting heat pump rebate applications | CBC News
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Islanders can no longer apply for heat pump rebates through the provincial incentive program.
Applications for the popular program have been paused, causing concern for at least one Island business that installs them.
“We always knew it would be scaled back some. It’s not the scaling back as much as not telling people you’re scaling back,” said Jeff Stewart, the owner of JS Refrigeration.
“If I would have known they’d be scaling back, I probably wouldn’t have bought one or two new vehicles in the past year and hired on the staff and bought the inventory that I had.”
The heat pump rebate program is one of many green incentives paused following the province’s latest budget. Islanders who have already applied and been approved can still proceed, but no new applications are being accepted.
Since 2019, more than 45,000 heat pumps have been installed in Island homes through three different programs, according to the Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy.
About 2,000 households have been approved but are awaiting installation.
Stewart said about 80 per cent of his company’s heat pump installations were connected to the provincial program. Now, that business is lost.
“I’ve already laid off one staff that was hired on to do the paperwork side of it, and there could be more layoffs. It just depends on if we can pick up in the other areas or not.”
Incentive meant to build capacity, says minister
Heat pumps use electricity instead of fossil fuels, making them a greener option for home heating and cooling.
Minister Sidney MacEwan said the incentive program was meant to help build capacity in the industry, but was never intended to continue indefinitely.
“You incentivize, you change that culture, and then you wind it down. And that’s how proper incentive programs work,” MacEwan said.
The government has invested heavily in electrification and is now focusing on energy efficiency, he said.
“That’s why you see the money directed into demand-side management programs, like the insulation program, so that those heat pumps that we have installed … [are] the most efficient they can be in those homes.”
He said that even though the program is on pause, thousands of households are still waiting for a heat pump.
“It’s full steam ahead in getting those things installed,” he said.