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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The territorial government is not saying what sort of changes will be made to its energy efficiency rebate program when the announcement comes next week, but one thing is clear - people are still using it.

Kate Thomson, programs assistant at Arctic Energy Alliance, showcases a display on insulation and window options eligible for rebates under the Energy Efficiency Incentive Program at the Arctic Energy Alliance office in Yellowknife. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo

More than $2 million has landed back in the pockets of NWT residents through federal and government programs promoting energy conservation since 2007.

Today, a new list of eligible appliances is expected to be announced for the GNWT's Energy Efficiency Incentive Program - a program that has given out the lion's share of rebates at $1.4 million - while older appliances will likely be removed.

Program officials say the changes won't be drastic and are part of an annual review process designed to keep up with rapid advances in energy conservation technology.

"We don't want to give anything for free to people because we want them to value them and we want this to be a good way to spend the taxpayers' money," said Walters Tubua, climate change specialist for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"Those are the kind of things we review the program for to make sure it keeps meeting our needs each year."

The program has awarded 4,500 rebates since the program was launched in 2007, said Tubua.

In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, there were 1,200 submitted rebate applications, up from 800 rebate applications the year before.

The Alternative Energy Technology Program, also funded through the GNWT, provided $619,130 among 37 projects that could include such systems as wood pellet boilers, solar water heating systems and ground-source heat pumps.

A contributing factor to the programs' success was the introduction of the Vendor Outreach program during the 2010-2011 fiscal year, said Tubua.

"Some of the funds that go into (the Energy Efficiency Incentive Program) actually go toward educating Northern vendors on the kinds of appliances that are qualified for our rebates," he said. "We've found there to be less confusion and we've found less applications come in for appliances that are not eligible."

As part of the vendor outreach program, Energy Efficiency Incentive Program representatives meet with vendors to discuss the application process and eligible appliances so the vendors can then pass the information on to consumers.

"I feel that people are more conscious about what they're buying and they do want to buy energy efficient products and the rebate is just the icing on the cake," said Steve Chung, owner of Arctic Appliance Service Ltd. "It's certainly helped our sales and its very beneficial to the consumer."

The most recent fiscal year was the last for the federally funded ecoENERGY Retrofit-Homes program, which has awarded 156 grants for energy-efficient home retrofits to Yellowknife properties. A total of 203 grants amounting to $296,115 overall have been handed to homeowners in the NWT since 2007.

In addition to the grants, the federal government estimates homeowners in the territory who participated in the program were able to curb their energy use by an average of 16 per cent. Tubua said major appliance vendors are consulted during the annual program review when appliances are added or removed from the eligibility list. He said the discussion allows vendors to provide their input into which appliances they would be able to purchase and bring North.

Northern availability effects the customer as well since appliances are only eligible for 50 per cent of their applicable rebate if they are purchased outside of Northern Canada.

The annual program review also reassess the value of rebate each appliance is eligible for based on its comparative efficiency with other models and its market value.

Tubua said the rebate program's goal is to encourage people to invest in the highest efficiency technology possible, which is newer and often more expensive, while also extending the available rebate funds, and taxpayer dollars, as far as possible.

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