Save on Energy Program Information

Save on Energy’s flagship Retrofit program offers businesses a more customer-friendly experience through an expanded list of energy-efficient measures, faster application review processes and quicker incentive payments. As part of enhanced programs announced on October 4, 2022, the Retrofit program will begin accepting custom applications from businesses, institutional and industrial customers in Spring 2023. Measures are available under three streams: lighting, HVAC and manufacturing and other equipment. Measures focus on many of the most commonly used products and technologies, including some popular measures from the previous custom track, to continue to help businesses save on energy costs and to help increase their competitiveness.

Incentives and measures will be updated throughout the course of the four-year framework, based on marketplace feedback. You can submit suggestions for new measures on the Save on Energy website.

Please see the complete list of measures and incentives, and visit the Contact us page to get in touch with a Save on Energy representative.

In response to feedback and to support more customer-focused solutions, the Process and Systems Upgrade (PSU) program was discontinued as of December 31, 2020. It has been replaced by a new offering called the Industrial Energy Efficiency Program that focuses on supporting participants to get larger, more complex projects off the ground. This shift in programming reduces the administrative burden for participants and helps address the unique and specialized needs of industrial consumers.

Please contact your IESO representative for more information.

The award-winning Energy Performance Program continues to be available for businesses to achieve continuous whole-building energy improvements under the pay-for-performance model. The program is available for commercial and institutional facilities and eligibility has been broadened to include industrial consumers.

Enhancements have been made to the program to provide stability for participants and to ensure sustained energy savings over their contract terms. Changes include new payments for achieving annual peak demand savings in addition to annual energy savings. The contract term has been extended to three years, and upfront incentive payments are included to support initial capital investments. Technical requirements have also been streamlined to improve the customer experience and to reduce administrative burden.

Incentive Information: 

Energy Incentive:

• $0.04/kWh paid annually over the term of the contract for all metered savings compared against the facility baseline energy model developed prior to the first performance year.

Peak Demand Incentive:

• An additional $50/kW paid annually over the three-year term for metered savings compared against the facility’s average peak demand over the summer months in the baseline year.

Visit Contact us to speak with a Save on Energy representative. 

The Energy Manager program has been instrumental in building a highly skilled network of energy professionals in various sectors across the province. Since the program was introduced, nearly 200 Energy Managers have been supported. 

In 2023, the program will evolve from the current Embedded Energy Manager model to a strategic energy management model. This will shift the incentive from providing direct funding to support the salary of an Energy Manager to providing an enhanced level of technical support and resources to companies with a dedicated energy management professional.

The Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program will provide greater flexibility to organizations and empower them to achieve additional cost savings through increased training opportunities, access industry tools and resources to support their energy-efficiency projects.

The SEM program, to be launched in January 2023, will offer training opportunities, including hands-on instruction and guidance to small cohorts in the various across Ontario by sector.

Participants will also be eligible to receive enabling incentives energy management tools and services, as they progress through the program and complete key milestones.

The IESO will engage with the marketplace to ensure a smooth transition and to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to provide feedback on the support and opportunities to for companies to effectively manage their energy use.

Visit Contact us to speak with a Save on Energy representative. 

The previous Small Business Lighting program has been replaced with the Small Business Program, which is designed to help small businesses across Ontario make equipment improvements to reduce their energy consumption, at no cost. This new and improved program offers small businesses direct-install incentives on an expanded range of equipment – both lighting and non-lighting.

Visit the Contact us page to get in touch with a Save on Energy representative. 

The Foodservice Distributor Discount program offers instant discounts to commercial businesses that purchase eligible foodservice equipment from participating distributors/dealers for installation in their business. 

The program is delivered in partnership with Enbridge. Visit the Foodservice Distributor Discount program web page to learn more.

Courses and workshops continue to be available for energy professionals to empower them with the necessary skills to make energy-efficiency improvements and to implement energy- efficient behaviours in their companies. Training incentives will be available throughout the four-year framework for energy management, specialized skills training for systems and technologies, and opportunities for professional development through various industry certifications. Foundational energy-efficiency educational content such as sector-specific information guides and project-based case studies will also be made available to business consumers.

Visit the training and support web page for more information and to keep up to date on opportunities.

Programs continue to be available to assist on-reserve First Nations communities to benefit from energy-saving upgrades to help improve on-reserve homes and buildings and to help residents and communities save on energy costs.

The First Nations Community Building Retrofit Program for on-reserve First Nations communities in Ontario connected to the grid offers up to $100,000 in funding and technical support to undertake projects to improve the energy efficiency of band-owned commercial and institutional facilities. 

The Remote First Nations Energy-Efficiency Program provides funding support to remote First Nations communities to implement energy-efficient projects that will help manage energy use more effectively and increase the comfort of homes and businesses. 

The Energy Affordability Program is also available to eligible grid-connected First Nation residents. It offers energy-saving upgrades tailored to the specific needs of your home, all at no cost. Brochures in Ojibwe, Cree and Oji-Cree are available.

For more information on the directive, please visit the IESO's Ministerial Directives web page, and for questions regarding new offerings please visit the Contact us page to contact a Save on Energy representative.

The new Energy Affordability Program offers expanded eligibility from the previous Home Assistance Program to continue to support income-eligible electricity consumers in lowering their monthly electricity costs and in increasing their home comfort. Participants most in need may qualify for a free energy needs assessment conducted by a trained energy professional that will help identify energy-efficient upgrades available for their homes, such as replacement appliances and weather stripping. Some participants may also qualify for free energy-saving kits customized to meet their energy needs that could include energy-saving LED lighting, timers, faucet aerators and/or a clothes drying line.

Interested participants should contact a representative at 1-844-770-3148 to discuss eligibility and opportunities.

My Energy Action Plan, launched in March 2022, is an online tool that provides residential consumers with low-cost, no-cost ways to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. My Energy Action Plan is an online questionnaire that offers tailored advice, tips to help customers manage their electricity use, improve home comfort and save on energy costs.

Save on Energy continues to offer all residential consumers information and tips on how to save energy and to better manage their electricity costs. This includes resources available on the Save on Energy website to help consumers make smart buying decisions on energy-efficient equipment, and tips for improving the comfort of their living and working spaces. Helpful content and tools will be refreshed throughout the four-year framework to reflect seasonality and societal needs and to help ensure consumers are equipped with the information they need to make energy-efficient choices and adopt energy-efficient behaviours.

Targeted local programming helps to maximize value to electricity ratepayers and customers, demonstrating the ability to use energy efficiency as a resource to help manage local electricity demand, and to avoid or defer costly infrastructure investments. Opportunities for local program initiatives will be deployed in targeted areas across Ontario based on needs identified through the IESO’s existing regional planning process. The implementation of local programs will leverage competitive mechanisms to provide targeted energy and demand savings for specific areas, while encouraging innovation and energy cost savings.