HatSmart 2020 kicks in with $250K available

The City of Medicine Hat will continue to offer rebates to its utility customers that add solar panels or make homes more energy efficient despite a state of flux for similar programs from other levels of government.

The 2020 HatSmart program, which offers $250,000 in rebates on solar panels, highend air conditioners and building measures, opened on Jan. 1 after it was approved last month at city council.

It’s the program’s 12th year, and comes as the provincial government cancelled its energy efficiency program and the federal government is still developing its plan.

“(HatSmart) is a one-year program again because it’s so hard to forecast what to do when there is uncertainty at the federal and provincial level,” said Jaret Dickie, manager of the city’s business utility support office.

“The solar program had a lot of momentum at the beginning of 2018 on solar photo-voltiac programs, and when Alberta scaled back, it weened off.”

Solar panel installation still approached full-subscription last year, though final numbers are not complete, as the new provincial government announced in the fall it would honour applications that had been submitted, but not accept any for new work.

The 2020 HatSmart program essentially follows the city’s previous grant amounts and areas:

— Up to $5,000 for residential solar panel systems ($1 per watt of capacity);

— Up to $10,000 on a sliding scale for new build housing that meets federal EnerGuide rating for new homes ($100 per gigajoule of designed savings);

— A $350 rebate on the purchase of a qualifying high-efficiency air-conditioning unit.

A portion of the budget is also set aside for giveaways on smaller purchase rebates.

Last month, Coun. Kris Samraj renewed his objection that the program lacked a specific goal about energy reduction and criticized the funding source of the program. Money comes from charges paid by customers who use above certain amounts, a system that Samraj says penalizes average customers, while grants are only available to customers who can afford to invest in energy saving features.

Chief Administrative Officer Bob Nicolay told council that program goals and policy are longstanding and will be forthcoming at a future meeting.

The $250,000 amount this year is enough to fully fund rebates for 26 solar arrays, eight new home builds and help with the purchase of 40 A/C units. Amounts vary however, depending on the scope of systems.

Last year, for example, 19 new home projects applied for building design upgrade grants, and 11 qualified for amounts between $1,000 and $5,600.

That facet of the program has increased in prominence over several years, said Dickie.

“It’s gained it popularity for sure since first offered in 2017, but obviously (designing a home) has a long lead time, and we wanted to remain consistent by offering it over multiple years,” said Dickie.

The UCP campaigned on scrapping the provincial carbon levy that paid a portion of the budget for Energy Efficiency Alberta, the agency which provides rebates and was shut down in the fall.

A new federal carbon levy, brought in for Alberta consumers on Jan. 1, provides direct rebates but no program funding.

On the campaign trail, the federal Liberal party promised grants for new homes that incorporate “net-zero” principles, as well as interest free load system for upgrades to existing homes. Final details on such a program would likely not be available until after the federal budget this spring.