On December 15, the CPA met with the Ontario government to discuss the association's Rural Propane Retrofit Program (RPRP).

 

CPA's Ontario Director, Government Relations, Peter Maddox and Susannah Robinson from Superior Propane met with Adam Shedleztky, Chief of Staff to Environment and Climate Change Minister Chris Ballard and Parminder Sandhu, the Chair of the Green Ontario Fund. 

As proposed, the RPRP is a $10 million program that would offer a $2,500 rebate for homeowners who change their primary heating fuel from oil to propane and install a new, high efficiency 95 Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) propane furnace. 

A maximum of 4,000 homes would benefit from the program in the initial three-year period. The RPRP would be independently administered and audited to ensure transparency and effectiveness.  

There are two important considerations. First and very important, the response from government to date has been positive. Second, the process to bring the RPRP forward is quite involved and there remains some final details to be provided to government. The CPA is working to ensure that the RPRP is considered at the next Green Ontario Fund Board meeting in the coming weeks. 

CPA will provide a further updates to members as the issue develops.