First it was the carbon tax carve-out for home heating oil.Now Newfoundlanders can apply for up to $22,000 from the federal and provincial governments to switch from said fossil fuel to a brand-new all-electric heat pump as blackouts persist across the entire region.Under the revised ‘Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program’ low-to-median-income households in Newfoundland and Labrador can now apply to receive enough cash to cover the full, average cost of switching to a heat pump — including $15,000 from the feds and another $7,000 from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador..They’ll even toss in another $250 one-time cash payment — more than enough for a two-four and a carton of darts — for ‘thousands’ of households that signed up in other Atlantic provinces including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI. The first cheques went out in the days before Christmas.“Given that the cost of home heating oil is the highest and most volatile compared with its alternatives and continues to increase, largely due to geopolitical events, switching to a heat pump also protects households from fossil fuel price spikes outside of Canada's control — leading to even more savings,” Natural Resources Canada said in a news release.."Electricity is cheaper, cleaner and more reliable than home heating oil. So, we'll pay for you to make the switch,”Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.In short, it’s free money."Electricity is cheaper, cleaner and more reliable than home heating oil. So, we'll pay for you to make the switch,” added Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.That’s despite lingering power outages from a series of storms that have rocked the Maritimes. At one point last week power was out to more than 100,000 homes and businesses in New Brunswick, thousands of which still didn’t have electricity in time for the holiday.On December 15, Newfoundland Power, the province’s electricity utility, warned of an “elevated risk” that supply shortages could result in rotating blackouts given ongoing challenges facing hydro plants.The problem is that its main gas turbine, which supplies back-up to the grid is out of service and a replacement isn’t expected to come online until spring."For the 2023/2024 winter season, Newfoundland Power observes that supply risk to customers on the Island Interconnected System is elevated," it wrote in a letter to the Public Utilities Board on December 6.
First it was the carbon tax carve-out for home heating oil.Now Newfoundlanders can apply for up to $22,000 from the federal and provincial governments to switch from said fossil fuel to a brand-new all-electric heat pump as blackouts persist across the entire region.Under the revised ‘Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program’ low-to-median-income households in Newfoundland and Labrador can now apply to receive enough cash to cover the full, average cost of switching to a heat pump — including $15,000 from the feds and another $7,000 from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador..They’ll even toss in another $250 one-time cash payment — more than enough for a two-four and a carton of darts — for ‘thousands’ of households that signed up in other Atlantic provinces including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI. The first cheques went out in the days before Christmas.“Given that the cost of home heating oil is the highest and most volatile compared with its alternatives and continues to increase, largely due to geopolitical events, switching to a heat pump also protects households from fossil fuel price spikes outside of Canada's control — leading to even more savings,” Natural Resources Canada said in a news release.."Electricity is cheaper, cleaner and more reliable than home heating oil. So, we'll pay for you to make the switch,”Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.In short, it’s free money."Electricity is cheaper, cleaner and more reliable than home heating oil. So, we'll pay for you to make the switch,” added Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.That’s despite lingering power outages from a series of storms that have rocked the Maritimes. At one point last week power was out to more than 100,000 homes and businesses in New Brunswick, thousands of which still didn’t have electricity in time for the holiday.On December 15, Newfoundland Power, the province’s electricity utility, warned of an “elevated risk” that supply shortages could result in rotating blackouts given ongoing challenges facing hydro plants.The problem is that its main gas turbine, which supplies back-up to the grid is out of service and a replacement isn’t expected to come online until spring."For the 2023/2024 winter season, Newfoundland Power observes that supply risk to customers on the Island Interconnected System is elevated," it wrote in a letter to the Public Utilities Board on December 6.
