UPDATE: Council voted unanimously in support of paying to participate in the Home Energy Navigator program.
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On Wednesday afternoon, Courtenay council will decide whether the city should join a program that helps residents renovate their homes.
On the agenda at Wednesday’s (Nov. 8) council meeting was a decision whether or not Courtenay will pay to participate in a program called Home Energy Navigator. The program gives expert advice to citizens about how best to renovate their home heating system to remove fossil fuel systems and switch to cleaner eco-friendly systems.
The program is being introduced as part of the CVRD’s Residential Emissions Reduction Action Plan.
With electric heat pumps as the local government’s desired technology for citizens to heat their homes, households face the obstacle of not knowing exactly how the technology works or how to renovate their homes to include it. The HEN being implemented is designed to bridge that knowledge gap by supplying expert advice about renovating and securing rebates.
The CVRD has provided $50,000 to implement the HEN, and Courtenay council is now deciding whether the city will match that funding to purchase the service for its citizens.
The cost to Courtenay is expected to change moving forward based on how many households use the service each year. Each house would cost the city an average of $425.
According to council’s report for Nov. 8, the program is eligible to be covered by provincial funding through the Local Government Climate Action Program. This funding allocation has been proposed for the 2024 budget.
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