With province's solar rebates going dark, P.E.I. customers and installers left 'in limbo'

A pause in the P.E.I. government's solar rebate program has left customers who applied for the cash help and local electricians worried that some installations won't be approved. 

Heather Rodgers applied for a rebate through the province in January, and has paid over $3,000 so far on an energy audit and deposit for solar panels. 

But at the end of February, Efficiency P.E.I. notified panel installers that it would no longer process new pre-approval letters for rebates. 

That's left customers like Rodgers wondering what to do next. 

"It's OK to pause, but for those of us who are applicants who are in the middle of getting the applications done and have… put deposits down and [to] now say they're pausing the program and they're liable to change the rebate structure, it is not fair," she said. 

Through the previous program, homeowners can receive up to 40 per cent of the installation cost for new solar panels, up to a maximum of $10,000.

In an email, the province has said it does plan to resume the program "in the coming weeks," but that it might come with changes. It did not specify what those changes could be. 

The province has said a new version of the program could include rebates for battery storage, but may also include eligibility limits tied to income.

It would have been really nice to know ahead of time that they stopped accepting rebates.— Matt Eye, M.B. Eye Electrical

"While Islanders are still encouraged to explore solar options with local contractors and begin the application process, we do advise new clients not to sign contracts or put down deposits until their pre-approval letter arrives from Efficiency P.E.I.," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

That has Rodgers worried the criteria might change, and she'll no longer be eligible.

"They should be honouring all those who applied in good faith up until the moment or the day that they decided to put an official notification up," Rodgers said. 

"All of us who have applied… are sitting here totally in limbo, not knowing whether to go forward, go backward — and we get no real communication from the government." 

Calls for more industry involvement

The province has said $9.2 million in rebates were handed out over the last year.

Companies who install solar panels were expecting another busy year ahead, but now some are sitting on equipment they may not get a chance to install over the summer.

Matt Eye, owner of M.B. Eye Electrical, said solar installations account for between 40 and 50 per cent of his business. 

He said the government pause on rebate approvals could force him to lay off employees or postpone installation work until next year. 

"It really puts us on the spot with the customers because we're not sure what to tell them…. It would have been really nice to know ahead of time that they stopped accepting rebates in December instead of [telling us] in late-February that it was paused," Eye said. 

"For it to got to the media like it did the week after really made our phones ring off the charts and [we're] not sure what to tell people."  

Chris Williamson, who's with Polaron Solar, said companies like his have invested advertising money to make sure Islanders are aware of programs like the provincial rebate. 

He's worried that the government's pause could lead customers to think solar installers are using false advertising to gain business. 

"When we do see a change in sharp contrast to what we anticipated, we have… advertising dollars that are lost to that, and we also create an undeliverable expectation from clients in the wake of that program removal," he said. 

"I really just wish that the province took more of a process where they worked closely with the industry professionals to come up with programs proactively to make sure that they're suiting the needs of everybody."