FortisBC Just Got $86 Million More for Energy-Efficiency Rebates — What It Means for BC Homeowners

More Rebate Money, Through the End of 2027

On September 1, 2026, FortisBC announced that the British Columbia Utilities Commission has approved an additional $86 million for its gas conservation and energy-efficiency programs through 2027. The reason is straightforward: customer demand ran higher than the utility planned for, and the rebate budgets were being drawn down faster than expected. This approval refills them. For BC homeowners, landlords, and business owners who have been weighing a heat pump, a water heater, insulation, or an envelope upgrade, it means the rebate money is still there — and there is more of it than there was last week.

What Was Approved

The decision covers FortisBC Energy Inc.'s gas conservation and energy-efficiency initiatives — what the industry calls demand side management, or DSM. Four details matter:

• $86 million in additional funding for gas conservation and energy-efficiency programs, running through the end of 2027.
• FortisBC is in year three of a four-year DSM plan. With this approval, planned gas and electricity program investment from 2024 through 2027 rises to more than $780 million — up from the $694.8 million approved in 2024.
• FortisBC says it is still reviewing its program plans and finalizing how the new funding is allocated across rebate programs, including residential and income-qualified streams.
• A separate 2028–2032 DSM plan is already in development, which will set the programs that follow this one.

Why the Extra Funding Was Needed

The approval follows a record year. FortisBC reports that customers completed nearly 82,000 energy-efficiency projects in 2025 — residential, commercial, industrial, Indigenous, and income-qualified — supported by roughly $267 million across its gas and electricity conservation programs. That is a 55 per cent increase in program spending over 2024. Danielle Wensink, FortisBC's director of conservation and energy management, tied the request directly to affordability, noting that “participation in our energy-efficiency programs helps them lower their energy use.” In other words, the budget ran ahead of schedule because British Columbians used it.

What Those Projects Actually Saved

The numbers behind the funding request are worth reading, because they are a reasonable proxy for what these upgrades do at the individual building level:

• Gas efficiency projects completed in 2025 are expected to lower annual gas use by more than 1.3 million gigajoules — roughly what 15,000 homes use in a year.
• Those same projects are expected to avoid more than 92,500 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in annual emissions.
• Electricity conservation projects are expected to lower annual electricity use by 49.6 gigawatt hours — about what 1,600 homes consume in a year.
• FortisBC invested close to $248 million in gas programs and more than $19 million in electricity programs in 2025.

How We Help You Use It

Rebate programs reward the projects that are specified correctly in the first place. That is the work we do before anything gets installed — and it costs you nothing to start.

• A heat loss and heat gain assessment of your building, so the system is sized to the home rather than to a rule of thumb.
• Equipment selection that meets both program eligibility requirements and BC Building Code.
• A rebate eligibility check across FortisBC, CleanBC, and municipal programs — including which offers can be combined.
• Application and paperwork filed on your behalf, at the point in the process when each program will accept it.
• Installation by Red Seal technicians, documented to the standard the rebate claim requires.

The Bottom Line

An extra $86 million through 2027 means the rebate pool that nearly 82,000 BC customers drew on last year is not running dry this year. It does not mean every rebate stays at today's amount — FortisBC is still deciding how the money is split, and program terms move. If a heat pump, water heater, insulation, or envelope upgrade is on your list for this year, the useful step now is to find out what you qualify for while the funding is confirmed and installer capacity is open. Source: FortisBC news release, “Additional $86 million to help FortisBC customers save energy and lower costs,” September 1, 2026.