HINTON – The Town of Hinton will look into a program to help finance clean energy retrofits for residents and businesses.
On Tuesday (Nov. 5), Coun. JoAnn Race advocated for administration bringing back a report on adopting the Clean Energy Improvement Program with self-funding options to finance the program. Council voted 4-3 for administration to return with a report.
“I think it’s really important that prior to making a decision – or I’m hoping we will make a decision – that we have the best information that we can get,” Race said.
The financing program aims to reduce barriers for property owners to install energy-efficient and renewable energy upgrades to their homes. The participating municipality finances the upgrade, and the owner pays the cost back through property taxes.
These types of upgrades include adding solar panels, replacing windows, insulating attics, installing heat pumps and upgrading lighting.
In 2019, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) brought this program to all municipalities. Alberta Municipalities, an advocacy group for municipalities in the province, is the central program administrator for Alberta and would handle a Hinton program.
“Since 2019, Alberta has jumped in feet-first, and municipality after municipality has bought into this program to such an extent that FCM has said there’s no more money for Alberta,” Race said.
She noted some communities were self-funding the program either with a line of credit or out of a reserve, and they would be willing to lend support to set up the program.
The town would also have to pay a start-up fee of $15,000 to Alberta Municipalities.
CAO Jordan Panasiuk noted in the report that administration was already dealing with a backlog of organizational objectives and council directives. He recommended waiting until the third quarter of 2026 if council wanted to implement the program without adding resources.
Coun. Trevor Haas acknowledged the program could benefit residents but was concerned about the self-funded options and the ability of town administration to take on a new program.
“I’m just not sure that we’re set up at this time for this for those very reasons,” Haas said. “At this time, I can’t support this.”
Coun. Kristen Chambers supported the motion so they could investigate the viability of a self-funded program.
“I do think there’s a lot of benefit, potentially, to some homeowners and families that may not be in a position otherwise to do some upgrades,” Chamber said.
Coun. Albert Ostashek noted council had already discussed this issue and his concerns about utilizing the town’s resources still stood.
Race replied the previous report indicated the town would need to hire a full-time staff member, but she had since learned this was not required.
Panasiuk said he was worried the program would be implemented while administration was doing a full transition of the town’s accounting services.
“This is a major project that is going to be riddled with problems,” he added. “Capacity, specifically in this area, is a concern for me, and implementing a program within a transitioning system, I think it’s problematic.”
Coun. Ryan Maguhn also wanted to hold off on looking into the program for now, noting he wanted to respect the advice of the CAO.
Haas said regardless of the report, it wouldn’t change the fact that the town didn’t have the resources to implement the program.
Mayor Nicholas Nissen supported the motion, because council had new information in terms of costing, source of funds and how the program is designed not to affect municipal finances.
“This is a program I’d like to see move forward for our residents, but at the same time, I’m not interested in rushing into it, and I’m interested in, quite frankly, seeing it after the quarter three of 2026 as recommended here,” Nissen said. “But right now, it’s for a report, and I do think we need a more accurate and better look at this.”
