Annual public meetings
2022 ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING
We hosted our 2022 virtual public meeting on Wednesday, October 12! We appreciated the opportunity to engage with you and answer your questions.
If you weren’t able to attend the meeting or would like to watch it again, you can view a recording of the event below.
2021 ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING
Thank you to everyone who tuned in to our virtual public meeting on Wednesday, March 24, 2021! We appreciated the opportunity to engage with you and answer your questions
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR
QUESTION & ANSWER PERIOD
We received a lot of great questions during our meeting. Here are our responses to some of these questions (others are answered in the public meeting recording linked above):
Q: Will Efficiency Manitoba offer programs or incentives for electric vehicles or charging stations?
A: Currently, our mandate is to pursue electricity and natural gas savings in homes and businesses. However, the Efficiency Manitoba Act also states other activities including electric demand, potable water consumption, and fossil fuels used for transport can be added to our mandate if prescribed through regulation. So even though electric vehicle programs and incentives aren’t currently within our scope, that could potentially change in the future.
Q: Will Efficiency Manitoba offer incentives for solar energy?
A: Yes! We’ll be launching a solar energy program in the 2022/23 fiscal year. Rebates will be provided to customers who install an approved grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system to an existing building. The rebate will be based on displaced energy on a per-kilowatt-hour basis.
Q: Will Efficiency Manitoba offer incentives on ground source heat pumps and/or air source heat pumps?
A: We’re working to launch our ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps programs in 2021. Our rebates will help with the upfront cost of installation and will be based on the heating load covered by the system.
Q: Do you plan to offer programs for First Nations people that aren’t part of a band or don’t live on a reserve?
A: Yes – we’re looking at developing and launching a First Nation off-reserve program in the 2021/22 fiscal year. It will be similar to our current Income Qualified offers, which include a home energy check-up, basic energy-saving items, and larger insulation, appliance, and heating system upgrades if the home qualifies.
Q: Why doesn’t Efficiency Manitoba offer rebates for installing high-efficiency natural gas furnaces?
A: Our programs are used to encourage industry, suppliers, and consumers to adopt and accept new energy-efficient technologies. In doing this, we help transform the market towards being more energy efficient. Historical energy efficiency programming for furnaces was effective on a national scale, and since 2009, the provincial government has required all replacement natural gas furnaces and boilers to be high-efficiency units. As a result, further rebates and programs aren’t needed to encourage energy-efficient decision making.
Q: Will you offer carbon tax credits to Manitobans who make natural gas-saving upgrades?
A: Manitobans who participate in our natural gas programs will see a reduction in their energy bills and in the federal carbon charges collected on natural gas usage. The positive impact of paying less for both energy and carbon tax are realized immediately.