Lanark County’s Media Release:

Here are the highlights from the Special Lanark County Council meeting held Dec. 13, 2023.

County Proceeding with Better Homes Lanark Application: Lanark County Council has approved contributing $5 million from reserves as the capital contribution for the Better Homes Lanark (BHL) Program under the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Community Efficiency Financing (CEF) Program. It also authorized staff to prepare and submit the CEF application. BHL is a home energy financing program that ties into the county’s Climate Action Plan.

Climate Environmental Coordinator Elizabeth Gallant updated the public works committee Wednesday evening. The consultants, Greenscale, have completed the required feasibility assessment and draft program design for BHL. Gallant explained BHL can fill a range of gaps in the community.

The feasibility study showed 65 per cent of the county’s single-family homes (SFH) were built before 1991, which is when energy efficiency requirements were embedded in the Ontario building Code, and more than half use natural gas. More homes than average in Ontario use fuel oil and propane as their primary heating source, which has a higher carbon intensity and is more expensive. “Although any single-family home is eligible, retrofits in homes heated with oil and propane will potentially provide the most cost-effective greenhouse gas reductions and utility bill savings for residents,” Gallant said.

She added more than 7,000 local households who experience high energy cost burden do not qualify to participate in existing low-income eligible energy efficiency programs, which this program could help alleviate. “Homes within the county heating with fuel oil or propane are spending two to four-and-a-half times the amount on home energy costs than the provincial average.” An estimated 15,620 single-family homes in the county could benefit from a local home retrofit financing program; however, homes built in the last 20 to 30 years are less likely to have many opportunities for cost-effective deep energy retrofits.

Gallant provided an overview of the program design, including goals and objectives, target markets, loans and incentives, risk mitigation, the Local Improvement Charge loan terms, the delivery model, capital funding sources and sustainability of the program. Long-term benefits of the program include:

• More than 4,500 homes could be retrofitted by 2040

• Almost 10,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas reduced annually

• Substantially reduce utility bills for many residents

• Increase resiliency of local housing stock against extreme weather

• Create work for 160 to 320 people in the first four years of the program operation

Gallant said to apply for FCM funding in February, local municipalities that want to participate must submit a letter of support indicating they will table a Local Improvement Charge by-law upon notification of funding approval. The capital contribution commitment from the county is also needed, along with the completed CEF application.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Gallant, Climate Environmental Coordinator, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 3114.