Council approves clean energy improvement bylaw

In the new year, homeowners in Calgary will be eligible to access funding to help pay for clean energy improvements.

Following a vote of 14-1 on Monday, with Ward 4 Councillor Sean Chu the lone opposing vote, council set the stage for the program which should be open in the Fall of 2022.

It gives the city access to $15 million which would be doled out to homeowners looking to purchase a wide range of upgrades.

This could include energy-efficient doors and windows, new insulation, furnace and water heater upgrades, and solar panels. Successful homeowners would then pay back the bill slowly through property taxes.

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At this point, the money is expected to assist over 700 properties but could be expanded further in the future as well. It is also in collaboration with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities offering loans and grants to cities launching community efficiency financing programs.

Due to the fact the money is eventually paid back by the homeowner, there is expected to be little financial risk to the city for providing these loans.

“It has as close to zero cost and risk to the city as possible, almost all these issues have been mitigated,” said Ward 14 Councillor Peter Demong. “We’re not the first city to go forward on this, so it’s not like we’re on the bleeding edge, we’re just on the leading edge which is a great place for Calgary to be.”

Administration said similar programs have been successful in places like Toronto and Halifax, and it’s also being introduced in Alberta municipalities such as Edmonton and Rocky Mountain House.

Ideally there will be good uptake, and there will also be regular updates from administration after it is implemented so council has an idea of how it is going along.

“It is a great way for somebody to lower the eventual cost of electricity, which if you’re looking at your bills is starting to creep up, so it is certainly something that I think a lot of people are going to be interested in and hopefully something that will run absolutely smoothly,” Demong added.

A motion from Ward 7’s Terry Wong to ask administration to report back specifically on if lower-income households are able to access the money and get improvements was withdrawn after some discussion, because other councillors agreed it would be better to just see how this initial program works first before looking deeper down into some of the data.