NDP pledges to cut interest rates on PowerSmart loans

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This article was published 30/03/2016 (3485 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba NDP promises to reduce interest rates on PowerSmart loans for homeowners and businesses looking to make their buildings more energy efficient.

The loans for both residential and commercial owners would both be lowered to 2.9 per cent, if the party is re-elected, Leader Greg Selinger said today. PowerSmart offers a variety of loan and financing programs to encourage users to make energy efficiency upgrades.

Selinger said the NDP is also committed to keeping PowerSmart as part of Hydro. The Progressive Conservatives say, if elected, they would create a separate arm’s length agency to develop and implement energy-savings programs, as recommended by the Manitoba Public Utilities Board.

Standing outside the home of NDP supporters Cliff and Bev Bernhardt in the constituency of Concordia, Selinger said the NDP would maintain PowerSmart as part of Hydro, although the subsidiary would report to a separate board of directors, the majority of whom would be independent of the Crown corporation.

In addition to reducing interest charges, the NDP would also expand the Pay As You Save program to include window installation. Selinger said the move would support jobs in Manitoba’s window manufacturing and home renovation sectors.  Hydro describes the Pay As You Save program, which was was introduced in 2012, as an option for customers to use their estimated annual utility savings gained from installing energy efficient measures, such as a high-efficiency furnace or attic insulation, to pay for those measures. There is no increase in bill payments because the monthly payment for funds borrowed from Manitoba Hydro must be less than the estimated annual utility bill savings averaged out on a monthly basis.

Currently, homeowners pay 3.9 per cent interest on PowerSmart loans, while commercial building owners pay 5.6 per cent. Under the NDP plan, they would both pay 2.9 per cent. As well, owners of apartment buildings would now qualify for the Pay As You Save program and pay an interest rate of 2.9 per cent.

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Meanwhile, the NDP also promised to convert 100 school boilers to biomass fuel by 2020.  Biomass fuels are organic materials produced in a renewable manner, such as woody fuels, animal waste or municipal solid waste.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca