Social & Assisted Housing – OPA Energy Efficiency Incentives
The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) saveONenergy program is offering social and assisted housing providers substantial incentives above and beyond those available to others. These represent unprecedented opportunities.
Through the “social housing adder”, the program provides as much as 50% of the costs to make upgrades including heating and ventilation (HVAC) systems, in-suite appliances, lighting fixtures and building envelope. Through “Participant Advance Payment”, the program offers upfront payments (half of the eligible incentives) towards the cost of the upgrade to help facilitate the process of starting projects. To ensure identification and analysis of potential opportunities, the Energy “Audit Funding” Incentive will also pay 50% of the cost of an energy audit to prioritize energy efficiency alternatives through financial and technical analysis. To provide some examples:
“Social Housing Adder” Incentive:
Based on the “social housing adder”, as an example, for a $100,000 retrofit measure a social housing member would get 50% or $50,000 in incentives (unlike others whose incentive is solely based on prescriptive or energy savings).
“Participant Advanced Payment” Incentive:
Additionally, based on the social housing “participant advanced payment”, out of the $50,000 incentive (for the example above) the applicant would get $25,000 upfront prior to starting the retrofit project.
“Energy Audit Funding” Incentive:
In the case applicable to the majority of our customers, this incentive pays 50% of the cost of the energy audit. For more information on why to conduct an energy audit refer to the following article, Why perform an energy audit & what are the benefits?.
These incentives enable:
- Reduced cost (50%) of replacing your aging building components and equipment (ex: Boilers, Air Handlers, Chillers, Windows, Lighting, etc).
- Reduced upfront capital requirement to start the retrofit project through “Participant Advanced Payment”.
- Reduced operational costs through lower energy and utility costs.
- Reduced energy audit cost (50% rebate) which help you identify & prioritize your options based on the business case and not just environmental merit.
Please note that the OPA provides incentives for electricity savings. For incentives associated to gas savings, please contact us or refer to your local gas LDC incentive programs.
For more information contact us at info@ensmartsolutions.com, (416) 887-8371 or online using our contact form. Further information on the saveONenergy – social & assisted housing is also available at : https://saveonenergy.ca/Business/Program-Overviews/Social-Housing.