Green energy rebate cut-off leaves homeowners on the hook

Hundreds of clients, possibly thousands, have been denied the Enbridge grant due to a loophole in the home efficiency program

- MARCO CHOWN OVED

Workers install new energy-efficient doors and windows at Nicole Roberto's house. She had commissioned the work after being approved for the Greener Homes Grant, but recently learned she would only get half the amount expected.

Nicole Roberto wanted to do her part for the climate.

Because most Ontarians’ carbon footprint is dominated by natural gas heating, she decided to swap out her furnace for an electric heat pump.

Knowing there was $10,000 in government rebates available from the federal government and Enbridge Gas, Roberto went further with her renovation, replacing old leaky windows and doors to make her house more energy efficient.

But when she went to get her grant, she was told that Enbridge would not pay her, even though the federal government would, leaving her thousands of dollars in the hole and scrambling to pay for renovations that had already been completed.

“We applied and we got confirmation to go ahead,” she said. “We made decisions and committed to contracts and had work done based on the expectation (that we’d receive the grants). Now that we don’t have access to Enbridge, we’re on the hook.”

Last year, Enbridge was contracted by Ottawa to run the Greener Homes Program in Ontario, combining two pots of money: $2.6 billion in federal funding and almost $200 million collected from natural gas customers in Ontario that’s legally required to be spent on energy efficiency programs in the province.

The program has been so popular that the federal government’s portion of the money was used up two years ahead of schedule, forcing Ottawa to abruptly halt new applications last month.