The city held a public engagement Municipal Mingle event at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre on Thursday evening, featuring several city departments and representatives from a new energy incentive program released.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
City staff say they have seen a steady number of applications from local homeowners seeking to take advantage of low interest loans offered by the Clean Energy Improvement Program launched in Medicine Hat in June.
During a municipal engagement event Thursday representatives with the program said several Hatters have already taken advantage of competitive long-term financing for upgrades to make their homes more energy efficient.
“We’ve seen amazing uptake. It’s been really well received by the community,” says Jonathan Linowski, corporate strategic analyst. “A lot of people are interested and the funds that we’ve allocated for this first year of the program are going really quick.”
As winter months loom, Linowski says homeowners are still able to take advantage of the incentive program to complete a range of heat-saving projects, including adding insulation, upgrading doors and windows and replacing furnaces and water heaters.
“It’s a great program to get high quality insulation in your home. Windows and doors are another thing that you can lose a lot of energy through, so this will save you,” says Linowski.
Linowski explains for a project to qualify for full financing a homeowner must first have an energy evaluation completed by an expert who will offer ideas to lower utility bills.
Once an energy savings project qualifies for financing the program will cover the entire cost of the renovation and homeowners will pay back the costs of the project through their property tax bill.
This allows the cost of upgrades to stay with the property, meaning homeowners have the opportunity to move before the loan is paid back.
The fixed-interest rate for a loan is set at 3.25 per cent. As well, the program offers rebates of 6.6 to 10.2 per cent for renovations, the latter 10.2 per cent is offered for projects on homes built before 1990.
“It’s to encourage people with older homes to do bigger projects to really kind of help their longevity of their house and the cost to maintain and heat their homes,” says Linowski.
There is also an option to repay in full at any time without penalty, and financing can be transferred to the next owner if the home sells.
Medicine Hat is among 23 municipalities in the province to authorize a clean energy improvement tax bylaw, and is administered by Alberta Municipalities.
Participants must instal eligible upgrades with a minimum cost of $3,000 to qualify for financing. There is a maximum of $50,000 of eligible costs per property, but the annual Clean Energy Improvement Tax cannot exceed the property’s annual municipal property tax levy.
The financing and rebates can also be stacked with other programs offering incentives to homeowners to complete renovations for energy efficient homes including the city’s HatSmart program.
Homeowners can apply online at ceip.abmunis.ca/MedicineHat. The city plans to offer the program over the next four years.
