NEWS RELEASE

Program celebrates one year of helping income-qualified homeowners with free energy upgrades in Calgary

CALGARY, July 26, 2024  - Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, Kambo Energy Group and the City of Calgary are celebrating the first anniversary of the Home Upgrades Program (HUP). The program contributes to housing affordability by providing fully subsidized home energy retrofits to income-qualified households in Calgary, Edmonton and Canmore.

The program launched in July 2023; since then, 60 homes have been upgraded, and another 45 are receiving assessments or upgrades in Calgary. Support is provided based on each home's unique needs. Participating homeowners benefit from a more comfortable, safe and energy-efficient home, which results in energy savings, reduced energy bills, and an estimated average of 2.0 tCO2e greenhouse gas reduction per home annually. 

Families in Canada who spend more than six per cent of their after-tax income on energy bills experience energy poverty. About 64,000 households in Calgary experience energy poverty (CUSP, 2019). 

“Housing affordability is impacted by many factors, including the rising cost of energy bills,” says City of Calgary Councillor Evan Spencer. “The Home Upgrades Program is the first tool we have to make an immediate and tangible improvement to the affordability and comfort of participants’ homes.”

HUP participant Jennifer Vu is a single mom who used to spend 27 per cent of her income on her energy bills. HUP improved her attic insulation from 2” to 18”, replaced her 23-year-old water heater with a high-efficiency model, and provided air sealing. Safety issues discovered during the work – including poor wiring and missing smoke detectors – were also corrected. 

“Participants have expressed gratitude for the program’s assistance, including  costly upgrades that would otherwise be out of reach. Participants who were worried about aging furnaces or could not tolerate the temperatures inside their homes now feel more comfortable and relieved knowing their appliances won’t fail during a cold snap,” explains Yasmin Abraham, President and Co-Founder of Kambo Energy Group. 

HUP is the first and only program of its kind in Alberta. It is offered by Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and Kambo Energy Group with support from major funding and program partners: the City of Calgary and the City of Edmonton. Further financial support has been provided by Alberta Ecotrust’s Climate Innovation Fund, Calgary Foundation, ENMAX, Alberta Real Estate Foundation, and McConnell Foundation, among others. 

“The Home Upgrades Program is an excellent example of how we can improve affordability for homeowners while mitigating climate change,” says Mike Mellross, Vice President at Alberta Ecotrust Foundation. “We know there is a great need across the province for a collaborative program of this nature and are looking for opportunities to scale this work to impact more homes with additional funding support.” 

The program is currently fully subscribed and waitlisting eligible applicants. For more information on how to apply or become a funder, visit homeupgradesprogram.ca.

About Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and the Climate Innovation Fund
Alberta Ecotrust Foundation is a charity working to create a healthier environment for all Albertans. As a founding member of the Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) network, it received an endowment from the federal government to create the Climate Innovation Fund. The Fund provides a suite of programs to complement and advance the climate leadership work undertaken by the Cities of Calgary and Edmonton.

LC3 is implemented in partnership among seven local centres and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). LC3 is part of a Government of Canada investment to accelerate urban climate solutions and help achieve Canada’s climate goal of net-zero by 2050.

About Kambo Energy Group
Kambo Energy Group is a minority-owned and run social enterprise committed to improving home comfort, safety, and energy efficiency in underrepresented communities. Founded in 2009, Kambo was created in response to a lack of diverse participation in utility and government retrofit programming from households with low-to-moderate incomes, diverse multicultural communities, Indigenous communities, and other harder-to-reach groups. Kambo delivers three programs: Empower Me, Community Power, and the Home Upgrades Program. 

Please direct media inquiries to:
Andrea Soler
Communications Director, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
a.soler@albertaecotrust.com | 780.966.8176

Emma Gammans

Director of Marketing and Communications, Kambo Energy Group

emma@kambo.com | 403.478.4543

City of Calgary Media Relations 

media.relations@calgary.ca  | 403.828.2954