Pillar one: Environment
Customer rebate programs
Reducing customer emissions
SaskEnergy — through its residential and commercial Network Members — offers a number of rebate programs to assist customers in reducing their emissions and lowering their energy costs. Through these programs, SaskEnergy has invested close to $2.9 million in rebates since the beginning of 2019. · SaskEnergy’s Residential Equipment Replacement Rebate provides rebates for the purchase and installation of qualifying high-efficiency natural gas furnaces, boilers, combi-boilers, heat recovery ventilator systems (HRV), and water heaters.
Environmental sustainability is critical as we meet Saskatchewan’s demand for safe and reliable energy. It’s also important to our customers and the communities where we operate. Helping customers reduce their emissions and meet their environmental goals is an important part of SaskEnergy’s energy stewardship strategy and is an area in which immediate environmental impacts can be made. Average residential gas usage in Saskatchewan declined by 20 per cent over the last 20 years due to improved building design and more efficient natural gas appliances. Decreasing energy usage is the most effective way for customers to reduce their emissions. SaskEnergy’s customer programs support the installation of high-efficiency equipment to optimize natural gas use, allowing customers to reduce end-use emissions and save money. In addition, SaskEnergy collaborates with organizations such as the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) and the Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF) and will continue to leverage investments that explore new cost-effective technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the natural gas industry. Since 2017, SaskEnergy's energy efficiency programs have helped our customers reduce GHG emissions by 18,900 tonnes CO 2 e, which is equivalent to taking more than 4,000 cars off the road. The GHG reductions achieved are a result of high-efficiency gas appliances and include gas use savings as well as emissions reductions from electricity savings. For context, a typical home uses 100 gigajoules (GJ) of natural gas each year.
· The Commercial Boiler Rebate helps offset the incremental price of a high-efficiency natural gas condensing boiler over the purchase price of standard-efficiency equipment.
· Our Commercial Space & Water Heating Rebate program offers rebates for natural gas furnaces, boilers, tankless and condensing water heaters, and infrared tube heaters in commercial applications.
In 2020, Saskatchewan’s first net zero multi-unit residential building broke ground, using natural gas — delivered by SaskEnergy — as the heating source. With advanced building envelope design and construction techniques, each unit uses less than 11 GJ of heat per year and the whole building uses about 130 GJ per year. SaskEnergy worked with industry partners through the planning and design stages of the project and funded the installation of 97 per cent efficient modulating furnaces and smart thermostats in the building. Built by Big Block Construction, the townhouse development is located in the Willowgrove neighbourhood of Saskatoon. NET ZERO HOUSING ON THE PRAIRIES
GHG Savings (tonnes CO ² e/year)
Year
Savings (GJ/year)
2017-18
38,600
2,400
2018-19
24,300
1,600
2019-20
102,300
6,600
2020-21
127,900
8,300
2020-21 Sustainability Report
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