Thousands of dollars have been reinjected into the community after three recipients collected rebates from FortisBC.
The City of Prince George, School District 57 and Sacred Heart elementary school have all received money from one of the natural gas company's energy efficiency rebate programs.
All three participated in Fortis's Efficient Boiler program, which provides incentives for upgrading to higher efficiency heating equipment. Depending on the boiler, recipients could receive a maximum of $60,000 per new installation.
It's important for community partners such as cities and school districts to step forward and lead by example, said Shelley Thomson, Fortis's energy solutions manager, who presented the groups with their rebate cheques Wednesday.
The school district received $114,853 for switching to more efficient products over the past two years than they might have used, said planning co-ordinator Barry Bepple.
"It's effectively saving more money in the long run," Bepple said, about the funds that will ultimately be returned to the classroom.
The savings come not only from energy costs, but also from having a smaller carbon footprint.
"With less carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere, we're paying less carbon tax," he said. "The savings by doing this are just spectacular."
At Sacred Heart, their replacement of an original boiler from the late 1950s last fall earned them a rebate of $19,152. The new, automated equipment is already showing improvements in consistency over the old boiler, said Jennifer Foster.
The city got back $40,824 for upgrades at the Aquatic Centre, the Ospika Boulevard firehall and the new administration building at the 18th Avenue yard.
City energy initiatives supervisor Rod Croome said the municipality looked at the program because they were looking for ways to reduce their natural gas consumption. "We need to install high-efficiency energy equipment... and it really helps with Fortis's program to install that equipment," Croome said.
