Thousands of small independent businesses across the province, from family restaurants to small retail shops, are expected to participate in Manitoba Hydro’s new Power Smart Shops Program aimed at lowering energy and water bills. This statement was made by Jobs and Economy Minister Kevin Chief.
Manitoba Hydro estimates that the enhanced Power Smart Shops Program will see about 5,000 small businesses take part in the program by the end of 2020-21, saving these businesses almost $5 million within 15 years.
This announcement coincides with Small Business Week in Canada.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the province’s economy,” Chief said. “What the Power Smart Shops Program does is help independent business owners keep more money in their pockets that in turn can be used to grow their business and even hire additional employees.
“The added benefit is that we use electricity and water more efficiently, and that’s good for our environment,” the minister said.
Lloyd Kuczek, Vice-President of Customer Care and Energy Conservation for Manitoba Hydro, said the Power Smart Shops Program provides qualifying businesses free or low-cost efficiency upgrades such as light-emitting diode (LED) screw-in lamps, water saving devices such as faucet aerators and low-flow, pre-rinse spray valves if they operate an establishment with a kitchen.
“The program also offers financial incentives to encourage small businesses to replace indoor lighting like fluorescent and halogen lamps with energy-saving lighting such as LED,” said Kuzcek. “Approved lighting retrofits can receive up to 70 per cent of the total project cost including materials, labour and permits. And, qualifying customers can finance the balance of their lighting upgrade on their Manitoba Hydro bill, making it even more affordable for small businesses to be Power Smart.”
The new Power Smart Shops Program is based on a similar program that ran from May 2009 to October 2010. Approximately 700 businesses in the Winnipeg area benefited from lighting and water efficiency upgrades with energy savings of 0.8 gigawatt hours over the two years.
Kuczek added the new program is expected to achieve nearly 4 gigawatt-hours in electricity, equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power 240 homes for one year, and 1 million cubic meters in natural gas, enough to serve 425 homes for one year.
“The combined electricity and natural gas reductions are estimated to lower greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 4,820 tonnes over the next 15 years. That’s the equivalent of taking about 1,000 vehicles off the road for one year,” said Kuzcek.
The program is available to small independent businesses across the province that are Manitoba Hydro electric or natural gas customers, billed at the commercial rate and meet the program’s requirements. To qualify, businesses must be no larger than 10,000 square feet and have less than six locations in Manitoba.
Learn more about Power Smart shops. Business owners can sign up by calling 204-360-3676, emailing powersmartforbusiness@hydro.mb.ca or completing an online form. Customers can also contact the program’s delivery contractor Ecofitt at 1-877-Eco-Fitt (1-877-326-3488).
