Motion – Heat Pumps
New Brunswickers are struggling to make ends meet due to rising energy costs, and at the same time we need to cut carbon pollution. Expanding and enhancing the free heat pumps and insulation program will achieve both of these goals, while putting a carbon tax on home heating fuels will not.
David Coon
WHEREAS New Brunswickers are struggling to make ends meet due to rising energy costs;
WHEREAS the Enhanced Energy Savings Program has been effective in promoting energy efficiency, reducing energy costs for low-income families, and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions;
WHEREAS, although the provincial government recently announced that it will spend another $30 million on the Enhanced Energy Savings Program, an investment of $150 million is needed to clear the existing waitlist of about 16,000 households;
WHEREAS there is a growing need to address the energy efficiency concerns of moderate-income households, which may not qualify for the Enhanced Energy Savings Program under the current income threshold;
WHEREAS NB Power is projected to expand its energy efficiency savings target to 0.75 % of sales by 2028-29, below what is recommended by experts;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly urge the government to invest a minimum of $120 million to clear the Enhanced Energy Savings Program’s existing waitlist;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly urge the government to raise the income threshold of the Enhanced Energy Savings Program to $75,000 and establish zero-interest loans for moderate income households to furnish the capital for cost-effective energy retrofits of homes; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly urge the government to raise the energy efficiency savings target to 1.5% of sales by 2025.