Peel Residential Energy Program (PREP)

The City of Brampton, in collaboration with the Cities of Mississauga and Caledon, will complete a design study of the Peel Residential Energy Program. These three cities that make up the Peel Region have all declared climate emergencies and adopted (or are in the process of approving) community climate change action plans to reach ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. The proposed study aligns with the Peel Climate Change Master Plan, which highlights that at least 50% of the residential housing stock built before 1990 across Peel Region will require deep energy retrofits in order for the region to achieve its climate action targets. The study will explore the following: · Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)/Local Improvement Charge (LIC) financing models · Traditional barriers to home retrofit uptake · Key program features (target audience, financing terms and conditions, eligible expenses, program requirements, administrative processes, marketing and communications strategies) · Targets for uptake among the three municipalities · Opportunities for a partnership approach to deliver a retrofit program jointly across the three jurisdictions, potentially through a third party, to find economies of scale and reduce the administrative burden on individual municipalities The City of Brampton will lead the study in collaboration with the project team (consisting of staff from all three municipalities). The project team will be supported by a larger project advisory committee (also made up of staff from all three municipalities), who will participate in quarterly project update meetings alongside the rest of the project team and provide periodic feedback on draft deliverables. A preliminary analysis of the study projects completing 4,450 retrofit projects. This would result in an estimated energy savings of 97,254 GJ/year and greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 3,038 tCO2e/year. Community benefits resulting from the proposed initiative include energy bill savings, the creation and retention of jobs, increased property value, improved home comfort and improved resiliency to severe weather events. Innovative aspects: · A collaborative, region-wide approach leveraging extensive stakeholder engagement to reduce administrative costs and create consistency for contractors · A third-party delivery model with a web-based submission portal and a one-stop-shop approach to streamline information access · An attractive PACE/LIC financing model with very low interest rates, long repayment terms and flexible repayment options Replicability: The partnership between three municipalities and the use of a third-party administrator delivery model has built-in replication that could be used by neighboring municipalities and others across the province. Various findings, toolkits and lessons learned will be shared with other municipalities looking to implement similar initiatives. (Project description from original funding application)