Solar rebate applications no longer being accepted as P.E.I. government hits pause button
It will be late summer before province starts accepting new applications to program
The Prince Edward Island government's decision to pause new applications for its solar rebate program is raising concerns among some businesses that install solar panels.
At the end of February, Efficiency P.E.I. notified installers that it would no longer process new pre-approval letters.
Gilles Arsenault, the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, said the program is currently "oversubscribed," and the pause is necessary to review its structure.
"Everybody that's been pre-approved is gonna be serviced, and the ones that are applying as new customers will be paused at the moment until we redefine what we're going to do with the program," he told CBC News.
Arsenault said it will be late summer before the province starts accepting any new applications to the program.
The government wants to ensure the program is being administered effectively and in a fiscally responsible manner while also reviewing eligibility criteria for applicants, he said.
Arsenault added that the new iteration of the program could include battery storage, but may also include eligibility limits tied to income.
According to the Efficiency P.E.I. website, the program was designed to make solar power more accessible by providing financial incentives for Island homeowners, farms and businesses to install solar photovoltaic panels.
Homes and businesses can receive up to 40 per cent of installed costs of the panels, for a maximum of $10,000 in rebates.
According to the P.E.I. government, 979 applications were processed and a little more than $9.2 million in rebates was handed out in 2024-25. Since the program began in 2019, there have been 4,197 applications and $38.6 million in rebates.
Concerns from businesses
Darcie Lanthier, sales manager at Renewable Lifestyles Ltd. in Summerside, said her company, which sells and installs solar panels throughout the province, has been signing customers throughout the winter to purchase the panels with the rebate program in mind.
Now, with the pause in place and no clear timeline, she said both her business and customers are left in limbo.
"We don't know what to tell our customers. We don't know how many panels to order. We don't know how many people to hire," Lanthier said.
"It just leaves us in this space of not knowing anything."
Path the net zero
Lanthier, who is also a former federal Green Party candidate in Charlottetown, believes it doesn't make sense for the province to steer away from renewable energy despite indicating otherwise in the past.
"On one hand, you have the province putting a chill on the solar industry; on the other hand, you have Maritime Electric asking for half a billion dollars worth of infrastructure that's just going to burn fossil fuels to make power," she said.
"It doesn't really make sense. It's 2025. We should be spending our money on solar and wind and renewable energy and efficiency and storage."
With files from Jackie Sharkey and CBC News: Compass