SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The federal government's decision to scrap a program providing financial support for energy-saving projects by early next year means Yellowknifers will no longer receive federal financial aid to build or retrofit energy-efficient homes.

Andrew Robinson, executive director of Arctic Energy Alliance, said even though the federal government will no longer issue rebates for the implementation of energy saving home items after March 2011, the GNWT's own energy efficiency program will continue to help NWT residents. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

But applicants will have an easier time accessing similar funds from the territorial government, according to Arctic Energy Alliance.

Last month, the feds announced the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program will be closed to new applicants who didn't book an initial assessment of their homes by March 31.

Under the program, which was launched in 1998, the feds required homes to undergo two assessments before owners could receive rebates for items rated for energy efficiency, like heating and ventilation systems.

"It was a shock," said Robinson, executive director of the Arctic Energy Alliance, which provides home energy evaluations under the NWT Energy Efficiency Incentive Program, a GNWT sister program that supplements federal rebates with money from the GNWT.

"For homeowners, I think some people were counting on that (federal help)," he said. "The ones that were a little more on the ball and got on our waiting list, they're lucky. But there was no way to know that was going to come."

According to Robinson, between March 2009 and March 2010, approximately 50 people throughout the NWT received a total of around $70,000 from the federal government. The GNWT funded another 800 rebates worth about $260,000, but the GNWT program covers more categories than just home renovations – like boat motors and washing machines.

Since 2007, the feds have funded 76 NWT retrofit projects to the tune of over $115,000, said Jacinthe Perras, a spokesperson for Natural Resources Canada.

Under the joint federal-territorial model, applicants who purchased an Energy Star oil furnace with an efficient motor, for instance, received $625 from the feds and $500 from the GNWT.

Under the new model, only the GNWT will provide rebates, but applicants will come by the money more easily now that the GNWT has eliminated the need for home assessments and only requires a receipt before issuing rebates, said Robinson.

"We still think that this (new) process is a good idea," he said. "If you're going to be spending this much money on your house, it's worth it to get the advice, but we don't need to require this advice for the rebates. It's a balance between getting good advice and not setting up a barrier to people that we can't get to, because it's such a spread out territory."

In some cases, rebates engendered the wrong attitude about energy efficiency, added Robinson.

"Part of the problem with having rebates tied to assessments is that the conversation starts to turn into 'What can I get a rebate for?' rather than say 'What should I do on my house and what makes the most sense?'"

The GNWT will continue its program past March 31, 2011, but it "reserves the right to change eligible products and amounts at this date," said Judy McLinton, a spokesperson for the department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"They're not saying that they're going to cut any of this, but you never know. Governments change," said Robinson.

The GNWT's tweaking of the program comes as Arctic Energy Alliance makes improvements to its home evaluation process. Feedback from former applicants suggested the alliance was not spending enough one-on-one time with homeowners during evaluations, many of which were conducted by contractors hired by the alliance, said Robinson.

"That's a legitimate criticism of our program, that we were trying to do too many, too fast of these assessments. Sometimes we were forgetting that the main point is to get people really good advice, and if we're in their home, we should take the time to talk to them.

"We've changed it so that we're going to do more of the evaluations ourselves and pay people by the hour. So if takes another hour to talk to somebody, that's money well spent."