ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — There I was on a ladder, trying desperately to keep my balance as I changed those spiral-shaped compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs to LEDs in light fixtures mounted to 10-foot-high ceilings.
One of the bulbs had burned out after eight or nine years with an alarming fizzle and smell. My thinking was that I might as well change them all at once to the more efficient 18- to 20-year-lasting LEDs, bulbs that more closely resemble the old traditional incandescents and seem, to me anyway, sturdier and less scary.
The job done after an hour or so, I proclaimed success to my Facebook friends for not breaking a limb or falling on my head.
Ding, ding came a Messenger alert from an old friend in Nova Scotia — about that province’s energy-efficiency program and how, if I lived there and had incandescent bulbs, someone would come to my house, bring me the new bulbs and install them all for free.
So that made me curious — how does Newfoundland and Labrador’s energy conservation program takeCHARGE, stack up against Efficiency Nova Scotia?
Indeed, there are a number of services that are way ahead of the curve in Nova Scotia, a province that is going to receive our Muskrat Falls power, while our meters are threatened to alarmingly tick up to pay for the hydroelectric project so over budget it has prompted a public inquiry. That startling price surge is the worry, anyway, without the government yet revealing a solid plan on rate mitigation.
Janet Tobin, spokeswoman for Efficiency Nova Scotia, confirmed that the program goes right into people’s homes and changes incandescent bulbs for LEDs, no matter where the person is located — at no cost to the resident, whether they are a homeowner or a renter.
Some other things available through the program include low-flow showerheads and aerators for faucets, as well as wrapping hot water tanks and hot water pipes with heat-saving material. Other possibilities are smart power strips for things like entertainment centres, so people aren’t plugging into multiple sockets.
“Everything in those programs are no cost to the resident,” Tobin said.
They extend to renters because there’s no structural changes to the home or rental unit involved.
Efficiency Nova Scotia also offers other programs — various versions of which exist in other provinces — that are geared to low-income or qualified homeowners with rebates, loans or grants helping with efficient structural upgrades, such as new windows and such.
Rebates include various heat pumps, insulation, washers, basement insulation, dehumidifiers, dimmer switches and other energy-saving gadgets. Those energy upgrades require investment by the resident.
Efficiency Nova Scotia bills itself as Canada’s first energy-efficiency utility and is funded by Nova Scotia Power.
And overall, it seems to be leading the pack when it comes to the extent of its free services.
“We are a leading model of energy efficiency — other jurisdictions are looking to us for what we are doing and how we are going about it,” Tobin said.
The Nova Scotia free energy-efficient light bulb exchange program has been around for about eight years, and it will likely play itself out eventually (as Christmas light exchanges did several years go here and in Nova Scotia) as more people switch to the longer-lasting and money-saving LEDs.
But incandescents haven’t all gone away — a quick search of department and hardware store websites reveals that incandescent bulbs are still available for purchase, though some of them are labeled “energy saving.”
Meanwhile, takeCHARGE is cost-shared between Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, with each utility covering the costs for their own customers.
All program costs are approved by the Public Utilities Board, Newfoundland Power spokeswoman Michele Coughlan said by email.
Both utilities also partner with the provincial government to deliver programs on their behalf, such as with the energy-efficiency loan program.
But the program works a bit differently from Nova Scotia’s robust free product plus installations on things like LED light bulbs.
The programs currently available in Newfoundland and Labrador to customers with electric heat include instant rebates on LEDs, showerheads, draft proofing, basement and attic insulation, thermostats, heat-recovery ventilators (HRVs), plus financing. The programs currently available to oil-heated customers include instant rebates on LEDs, showerheads and draft proofing, and for HRVs, plus financing.
“We are a leading model of energy efficiency — other jurisdictions are looking to us for what we are doing and how we are going about it." — Janet Tobin
Rather than free at-home installations, the instant-rebate program — offered twice a year — offers at-the-checkout rebates provincially on LEDs, showerheads and other low-cost energy-saving items, but the consumer still has to pay for and install them in most of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The program that involves the direct installation of such products is offered only in Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro’s isolated diesel communities.
The isolated systems energy-efficiency program provides the direct installation of energy-efficient products to all homes and business owners in N.L. Hydro’s 42 remote diesel-system communities, free of charge, including the installation of energy-efficient products such as low-flow showerheads and aerators, LED lamps, smart power strips, and hot water tank and pipe insulation.
Since 2012, the program has installed 106,397 energy-efficient products in 570 business and 6,385 home visits.
“It has increased local knowledge on energy efficiency, provided employment for 55 local residents and successfully helped these communities save 8,243 GWh of electricity. This direct install program can be offered cost effectively because of the high cost to produce electricity with diesel,” Coughlan said by email.
Each province, said Coughlan, evaluates conservation program investments based on unique system costs, saturation of energy-efficiency technologies in that area and geography.
“All takeCHARGE programs are screened by the utilities to ensure that they help minimize energy costs. Conservation programs are continuously evaluated for cost effectiveness by the utilities and external third-party evaluators,” Coughlan said.
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takeCHARGE Statistics
Customers have saved about 580 GWhs of energy since the launch of takeCHARGE. That’s enough energy to power over 25,000 electrically heated homes for an entire year.
Participation since launch in 2009:
- More than 50,000 residential customers (application-based programs).
- More than 10,000 attics and basements insulated.
- More than 100,000 programmable and electronic thermostats installed.
- More than two million LED light bulbs purchased.
- More than 450 local businesses.
takeCHARGE rebate programs for residential and business customers, providing financing assistance and resources for both electrically and non-electrically heated customers.
Residential:
- Basement and attic insulation – Get back up to $2,000.
- Programmable and electronic thermostats – Get back up to $10 per unit installed.
- Heat recovery ventilators – Get back $175.
- Instant rebates – Save up to $10 instantly on LED light bulbs, draft-proofing products and more at participating retailers during campaign periods.
- Financing is available on a range of energy-efficient products, including low-interest financing on heat pumps and insulation through the energy-efficiency loan program, delivered in partnership with the provincial government.
Business efficiency program:
- Assistance available to identify and pay for energy-efficiency improvements, including up to $50,000 through the custom program.
- Set product rebates are also available on 12 energy-efficiency technologies, including
- LED lighting (bulbs, tubes, exit signs and wall packs), rooftop air source heat pumps and programmable thermostats.
- Incentives are also available for energy audits and feasibility studies.
Source: Newfoundland Power
