The day after Fraser Health confirmed a number of service cuts in the province, British Columbians learned they would be losing another government program Friday - this one designed to encourage green living.
The Live Smart B.C. energy rebate program was designed to reward people for making their homes more energy efficient.
Homeowners could receive up to $770 for installing efficient furnaces, $310 for adopting a tankless water heater and up to $190 for installing attic insulation. But not anymore.
"It was another bomb dropped," Scott Kennedy of Amerispec Home Inspections said Saturday.
Kennedy says without the rebate, British Columbians will be hard pressed to undergo environmental audits in these tough economic times.
"People are going, 'you don't get as much money back anymore, it's not cost effective.'"
The program's demise may be attributed to its success -- it initially received $60 million in funding, which the government expected would last three years. Just 15 months later, that money is gone - and it will not be replenished.
Steve Babruaskas of Astara Windows is working on a high-end window replacement. He says it will cost the homeowner about $20,000 - minus a $1,000 rebate.
"[The rebate] was incredibly instrumental in this homeowner going ahead with it," he said.
Babruaska is now bracing for a drop in business. How severe the drop will depend on how much people are willing to pay - to go green.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
