P.E.I. households making up to $129,000 a year will now be eligible for a free heat pump under the federal government’s Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program.
The federal program had been previously announced, but it wasn’t available on P.E.I. while the two governments had been in negotiations.
Island households will be eligible for up to $15,000 with the new federal program portion, depending on the size of the household.
The money can be used to install a new or secondary heat pump, or for other work such as electrical upgrades or removing old oil tanks.
“This is a big, big program that is rolling out here,” said Steven Myers, P.E.I.’s minister of energy, environment and climate change.
“It could put up to a hundred million dollars into Prince Edward Island’s economy in its lifetime, so it’s a huge project. And for us, we’ve been so willing to make the changes for climate change.”
Announcement in Charlottetown
The announcement was made at a news conference Tuesday in Charlottetown.
It’s all part of the federal government’s goal to get Canadians off fossil fuels, said Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor.
“We certainly recognize with the heat waves that we’re seeing and the cold spells in the wintertime, that we want to reduce the use of oil,” she said. “This is a wonderful program that ensures Canadians will have access to it.”
The federal government also released its Green Buildings Strategy.
That includes a plan to completely phase oil-based heating systems out of new builds by 2028.
