Today Manitoba Hydro announced three initiatives to make it even easier and more affordable for customers to make energy efficient home renovations.
Building on the federal ecoENERGY Program which offers up to $5,000 in grants for energy efficiency improvements for your home, Manitoba Hydro is making it even more affordable to renovate by reducing the cost of the required pre-retrofit in-home evaluation from $180 to $45. Also, through existing and new Power Smart offerings, Manitoba Hydro will top up grants offered under the ecoENERGY Program by 20 per cent. Manitoba homeowners will now be eligible for up to $1 000 in additional Power Smart grants, resulting in total grants of up to $6,000, retroactive to June 2011. The federal ecoENERGY grants are a limited time offer and are scheduled to end on March 31, 2012.
To further assist homeowners in making their energy efficient home renovations, Manitoba Hydro has lowered the interest rate to 3.9 per cent for all new loan applications under the popular home energy improvement financing plan – the Power Smart Residential Loan effective immediately.
Customers can borrow up to $7 500 to complete qualifying energy efficient renovations to their home with the convenience of monthly payments on their energy bill. Some of the energy saving measures covered by the loan include adding insulation and upgrading your natural gas furnace to a high efficient model.
Premier Selinger stated, “We committed to bringing Manitobans these important energy efficiency program enhancements only a few short weeks ago. Now that commitment has become a reality. These program changes make it possible for more Manitobans than ever to benefit from increasing the energy efficiency of their homes.”
Minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, Dave Chomiak noted that “The combination of the lower pre-retrofit ecoENERGY evaluation fee, increased grant amounts and low-interest financing means there’s never been a better time to complete energy efficient upgrades that homeowners may have been postponing.”
“Manitoba Hydro is pleased to be taking these steps to further assist our customers in making their homes energy efficient.” said Bob Brennan, President and CEO of Manitoba Hydro. “We are proud of our history of Power Smart programming and our continued commitment to making energy efficiency affordable to all customers.”
For additional information homeowners can visit www.hydro.mb.ca or call 1-888-624-9376 (480-5900 in Winnipeg).
