Programs that were established by the province last year to help Alberta home and business owners save money and reduce energy consumption is proving to be a huge success.

Energy Efficiency Alberta was created as part of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan in 2017 and five programs were launched from April to July to make it easier for Albertans to conserve energy.

Albertans have embraced the program and year end results show savings of $300 million in energy costs.

“More than 150,000 Alberta households have chosen to register for this program. That’s over 10 percent of all single family homes in the province. This demonstrates pent up demand for energy efficiency in Alberta,” said Monica Curtis, CEO, Energy Efficiency Alberta.

Officials say participants have received $45 million in instant savings and rebates to buy over 9 million energy-efficient products including; appliances, windows, tank-less water heaters, solar energy panels, smart thermostats and lightbulbs.

“We sold four million lightbulbs in a month. The retailers and the contractors were very happy all of a sudden because our first program was essentially a marketing program for energy efficiency and it was very successful,” said David Dodge, Energy Efficiency Alberta.

Over 1100 home improvement companies and 200 retailers are taking part in the program and officials say 50,000 households have boosted their energy efficiency with renovations or energy-efficient products.

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