Demand for P.E.I.'s free heat pump program heats up amid rising temperatures

With July breaking records as one of the hottest in Prince Edward Island's history, applications for the province's free heat pump program have shot up.

The province said it received about 700 applications in July compared to 400 in May and June.

"The free heat pump program is going really well. We've got really good uptake," said Derek Ellis, director of the sustainability division for the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action.

"We think that's probably in response to the extreme heat we've been experiencing here in July."

Roughly 7,000 households have received their free heat pump, Ellis said. Back in February, the wait-list was about 3,500 people long. 

Ellis said despite the growing demand, the province is caught up.

"The time [from when] we receive your application and the time that heat pump is in the wall is roughly three weeks," he said.

"So we're hoping that we can get more applications."

Ellis said besides adding more contractors, these have also increased their capacity. That means the province can now accommodate roughly 1,000 installations a month.

"If we get to a point where we're getting an overwhelming number of applications, which I selfishly hope we do, then we can always onboard additional installers," he said. 

Greenfoot Energy Solutions, one of the contractors that works with the province, has been busy this summer. 

Rob Steves, energy consultant with Greenfoot, called this summer a "historic" season. Greenfoot does private installations besides working with the province on the free heat pump program.

"This year we're going anywhere between 100 to 200 heat pumps a week, which is kind of unheard of numbers," he said. "But we're maintaining [business] right now."

Steves said the demand in P.E.I. is particularly high right now, but the company has been able to pull in crews from other provinces to help.