Harper budget eliminates national ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes program, devastates energy savings industry

Mar 29th, 2012 12:02 PM

Media Release (Vancouver, BC, March 29, 2012) In Budget 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper failed to renew the federal ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes program. This will result in reduced levels of energy conservation, and immediate job losses in every Canadian community. “Just because Canada is blessed with energy, doesn’t mean we should waste it,” stated Jeff Murdock, vice-president of Building Insight Technologies, an energy audit company in Ontario and British Columbia, and a supporter of Canada’s Save ecoENERGY Coalition. Public support for retrofit incentive programs is strong. According to a recent Ipsos Reid poll undertaken for the Ontario Real Estate Association, 92 per cent of Ontario homeowners think government should create more incentives for homeowners to make environmentally friendly and energy efficient renovations to their homes. Homeowners in provinces that still have some form of provincial home energy retrofit incentive program will no longer have the support of the federal government’s ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes program. “In Ontario, homeowners get nothing - they no longer have access to either a federal or provincial home retrofit incentive program,” Murdock states. “With Canada poised to invest billions in new energy projects like oil sands, nuclear and wind farms, Harper’s actions are devastating,” stated Murdock. “Hundreds of energy savings companies will be forced to downsize, lay off staff, or shut down altogether.” Energy efficiency should be at the top of Canada’s energy and jobs agenda, not the bottom. Learn more about the Save ecoENERGY Coalition at SaveEnergyFirst.ca.
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For more information, or to schedule interviews, contact: Jeff Murdock, 604-785-9109, jmurdock@buildinginsight.com The ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes program helped homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient and reduce the burden of high energy costs.