Efficiency Nova Scotia says rebate backlog is almost cleared up

Efficiency Nova Scotia says a backlog of customers who have waited up to a year to get rebates for energy efficiency projects should be mostly cleared up by September.

When the federal government announced the Canada Greener Homes program in 2021, which offers incentives for energy efficiency upgrades, it led to a spike in demand for Efficiency Nova Scotia, as there are both federal and provincial rebates available.

"We're getting emails and phone calls at levels way beyond anything we've seen in past years," said Efficiency Nova Scotia spokesperson Janet Tobin.

She said they're receiving roughly 1,100 applications a month.

While the federal rebates were initially handled by Natural Resources Canada, Efficiency Nova Scotia took over managing the rebates this springfor thousands of waiting Nova Scotians.

Tobin said reasons for the backlog, besides the popularity of the rebate programs, included errors with information coming from Natural Resources Canada.

She said Efficiency Nova Scotia brought in additional staffing and changed its internal processes to help get caught up.

More processing capacity

The number of rebates Efficiency Nova Scotia can process weekly recently increased from 400 to 700, said Tobin.

She expects that by this fall, Efficiency Nova Scotia will be just dealing with new applications.

Brent Landry of Howie Centre, N.S., has been waiting for almost a year for his rebate. He added spray foam insulation and Styrofoam to his home and applied for the rebate last November.

"It's just been nothing but trying to get the money ever since for this rebate," he said.

Landry said the work cost around $12,500, and he's expecting roughly $5,000 in rebates.

He said the last communication he received from Efficiency Nova Scotia was on July 7 and he was told they were close to issuing the rebate.

Tobin said she appreciates people's patience as Efficiency Nova Scotia works through the backlog.

"It's been a long road and a long process for a lotof Nova Scotians," she said.