Financial support for energy conservation and climate action projects through rebates and incentives is a critical component of helping many projects proceed. However, without knowing which funding options work best for your project, it’s possible you may be missing out.
Rebate programs can help to offset 50-100% of the cost of an energy study and as much as $1M towards the cost of retrofits. Sometimes more than one incentive program can be applied to a single project, while some programs may offer less for a study but more for implementation. Understanding these programs and which one will offer the most value to your project can be confusing and time consuming.
Although many of us are aware of various rebates and incentive programs that support energy and carbon reduction projects, learning about new programs and keeping up to date with changes is important if we want to maximize the funding available and get projects moving.
Some tips from Prism’s team when you’re looking at rebate and incentive options include:
- See if the program will offer an incentive for implementation of measures once the study is complete if you’re conducting a study first.
- Consider whether the program favours energy savings or carbon reduction and how this aligns with your priorities.
- Check that the program timeline works for your project and aligns with your internal funding schedule.
- Understand any measurement and verification (M&V) requirements and the impact of equipment performance on the incentive.
- Read the fine print – see if there any claw backs associated with not implementing the project.
While the Prism team can help educate and navigate you on various programs, there are also several useful online resources available to help. Below is a summary of our ‘go to’ resources you might find beneficial:
Resource | Sector |
---|---|
Comprehensive incentive list by province and sector | All |
BC Community Climate Funding Guide | Local governments & Indigenous Communities |
Community Energy Association – Funding Guides BC and Alberta |
Local governments |
CleanBC Better Buildings | All |
BC Hydro Programs & Incentives | All |
FortisBC Programs & Incentives | All |
Goverment of Canada Climate Adaptation Funding | All |
Here’s what some of our clients have shared about the value of finding the right incentive program:Now is a great time to consider possible funding contributions to your projects through rebates and incentives. Momentum continues to build around deep carbon reduction in the built environment, and so too does the funding programs and incentives out there to help support it.
“Prism has been instrumental in maximizing the City of Port Moody’s investment to reduce emissions from civic facilities. They identified several funding options for the City to consider and worked with staff to customize an approach that maximizes the City’s investment and meets all project goals. Prism has led the City’s team through the funding application by researching and laying out application requirements, tracking application components, and preparing key documents.”
-Laura Sampliner, Sustainability and Energy Coordinator, City of Port Moody
“The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) has found the custom study from Prism and the FortisBC incentives invaluable to progressing energy saving actions in corporate buildings. Incentives offered for the study and the incentives in the study have received high-5s and smiles from the engineering and finance departments. Without these incentives, it is doubtful an engineering report of this calibre would have been affordable.”
-Jeremy Dresner, Senior Energy Specialist, Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen
Depending on whether you are considering funding for a study only, or study followed by implementation, the best incentive program to maximize your overall contributions might not be the most obvious path.
Contact Sam Thomas if you’re unsure about which funding path to pursue, and we’d be happy to help guide you in the right direction!