Wynne touts energy audit, retrofit rebates for 37,000 Ontario homeowners

A previously announced program to help an estimated 37,000 Ontario homeownersreceivecash rebates to retrofit and renovate their homes went into effectMonday.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the program is an effort by the provincetoreduce energy bills and combat climate change.

"Families want to make sure that their kids have great, warm places to play in the basement, even if their house is 150 years old,"Wynnesaid outside the home of a Toronto family who received rebates for energy audits and retrofits for their home this year.

"They want to make sure they are paying the lowest cost possible for those homes."

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Under the home energy program, Ontario homeowners could be eligible to receive rebatesranging from $500 to $2,000 for energyaudits an assessment of a hometo find ways to lower its energy bill and for renovations such asinstalling energy efficient furnaces, windows and insulation.

WynnesaidUnion Gas and Enbridge already provide similar rebate programs andthe programwillbenefit those not necessarily customers of those companies. That meansan additional37,000 homeowners, she said.

The Ontario government will run the program in partnership with Enbridgeand Union Gas. Itis offered to homeowners who use natural gas, propane, oil or wood as their primary heating source.

The government saidthe $100 million needed foraudits and retrofits over the next three years will come from its Green Investment Fund, a $325 million fund the province set up last year as a "down payment" on future revenues from its cap-and-trade plan designedto reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It saidthe audits and retrofitsare expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.6million tonnes over the life span of the renovations.