A new provincial rebate program will help businesses convert to more energy efficient lighting.
A $4-million pilot program announced Monday will cover 25 per cent of the material cost involved in converting commercial lighting systems. The program will run through the end of 2011 or until funding is exhausted.
The province is targeting lighting because this accounts for approximately half of the electricity used by Alberta businesses, said Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner.
“Commercial property owners play a crucial role in our commitment to improve energy efficiency, and this initiative will help curb the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and lower business costs,” he said.
The program aims to eliminate 191,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. This is the equivalent of taking approximately 40,000 cars off the road. The rebate program will be administered by Climate Change Central, a non-profit organization that already operates several rebate programs for the residential sector.
“We’ve wanted to make the move into the commercial sector just because there’s such a need for it,” said program manager Cheryl Arkison. “Commercial buildings actually have a very big energy footprint. There’s a lot of electricity used, in particular.”
The program will provide rebates of between $37,500 and $375,000. There are five rebate categories based on the following building types: restaurants, multi-use residential buildings, offices, retail locations and warehouses.
Offices are the largest users of electricity in the commercial sector, Arkison said.
The initiative takes effect immediately. All participants must undertake a pre-retrofit assessment and demonstrate the potential for energy savings.
The program sounds interesting to Tony Viveiros, general manager of Riverside Honda in St. Albert. The business retrofitted its lighting several years ago, realizing savings of about 25 per cent and also achieving better light quality, which has meant less eye fatigue for employees, Viveiros said.
“If there’s a program out there like that again, which is great, we’d probably participate in it,” he said.
It’s encouraging to see the government pursuing conservation efforts but it should be doing something to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and promote renewable energy, said Sheila Muxlow, director of the Sierra Club’s prairie branch.
“Is this really reducing our reliance on coal? No, it’s not,” she said.
About 75 per cent of the province’s electricity comes from coal, according to the Alberta Electrical System Operator.
Information about the new rebate program is available at http://www.lightitright.ca/.
