Manitoba Hydro Launches New Power Smart program for Small Businesses
Thousands of small independent businesses across the province, from family restaurants to small retail shops, are expected to participate in Manitoba Hydro’s new Power Smart Shops Program, aimed at lowering energy and water bills, says provincial Jobs and Economy Minister Kevin Chief.
Manitoba Hydro estimates that the enhanced Power Smart Shops Program will see about 5,000 small businesses take part in the program by the end of 2020-21, saving these businesses almost $5 million within 15 years.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the province’s economy,” says Chief. “What the Power Smart Shops Program does is help independent business owners keep more money in their pockets that in turn can be used to grow their business and even hire additional employees.
The Power Smart Shops Program provides qualifying businesses with free or low-cost efficiency upgrades such as LED screw-in lamps, water saving devices such as faucet aerators, and low-flow, pre-rinse spray valves if they operate an establishment with a kitchen.
“The program also offers financial incentives to encourage small businesses to replace indoor lighting like fluorescent and halogen lamps with energy-saving lighting such as LED,” says Kuzcek. “Approved lighting retrofits can receive up to 70% of the total project cost including materials, labour and permits. And, qualifying customers can finance the balance of their lighting upgrade on their Manitoba Hydro bill, making it even more affordable for small businesses to be Power Smart.”
The new Power Smart Shops Program is based on a similar program that ran from May 2009 to October 2010. Approximately 700 businesses in the Winnipeg area benefitted from lighting and water efficiency upgrades with energy savings of 0.8 gigawatt hours over the two years.
The new program is expected to achieve nearly 4 gigawatt-hours in electricity, equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power 240 homes for one year, and 1 million cubic meters in natural gas, enough to serve 425 homes for one year.
The program is available to small independent businesses across the province that are Manitoba Hydro electric or natural gas customers, billed at the commercial rate and meet the program’s requirements. To qualify, businesses must be no larger than 10,000 square feet and have less than six locations in Manitoba.
