With province's solar rebates going dark, P.E.I. customers and installers left 'in limbo'

A pause in the P.E.I. government's solar rebate program has left customers who applied for the cash help and local electricians worried that some installations won't be approved. 

Heather Rodgers applied for a rebate through the province in January, and has paid over $3,000 so far on an energy audit and deposit for solar panels. 

But at the end of February, Efficiency P.E.I. notified panel installers that it would no longer process new pre-approval letters for rebates. 

That's left customers like Rodgers wondering what to do next. 

"It's OK to pause, but for those of us who are applicants who are in the middle of getting the applications done and have… put deposits down and [to] now say they're pausing the program and they're liable to change the rebate structure, it is not fair," she said. 

Through the previous program, homeowners can receive up to 40 per cent of the installation cost for new solar panels, up to a maximum of $10,000.

In an email, the province has said it does plan to resume the program "in the coming weeks," but that it might come with changes. It did not specify what those changes could be. 

The province has said a new version of the program could include rebates for battery storage, but may also include eligibility limits tied to income.

"While Islanders are still encouraged to explore solar options with local contractors and begin the application process, we do advise new clients not to sign contracts or put down deposits until their pre-approval letter arrives from Efficiency P.E.I.," a spokesperson said in a statement. 

That has Rodgers worried the criteria might change, and she'll no longer be eligible.

"They should be honouring all those who applied in good faith up until the moment or the day that they decided to put an official notification up," Rodgers said. 

"All of us who have applied… are sitting here totally in limbo, not knowing whether to go forward, go backward — and we get no real communication from the government." 

The province has said $9.2 million in rebates were handed out over the last year.

Companies who install solar panels were expecting another busy year ahead, but now some are sitting on equipment they may not get a chance to install over the summer.