Alberta condo owners petition province to be included in electricity rebate

A group of condo owners in Alberta are petitioning the government to allow them to benefit from more of the province’s Affordability Action Plan.

At issue is the electricity rebate. Because some apartment-style condos have a single meter attached to their building and pay for their electricity via condo fees, they aren’t eligible for the $500 to be rebated from July 2022 to April 2023.

“For us, with 124 units in the building that I live in, that is $62,000 that we’re not getting right now that we think we should,” Phil Rosenzweig of the Condo Owners Forum Society of Alberta told Global News.

The condo owners society proposed condo corporations could register for the rebates, providing documentation of service and number of units.

They also want assurances that if the natural gas rebate is triggered, that all condos would be eligible.

“The other major condo organizations in the province have said they will support this,” Rosenzweig said.

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The society started a petition and letter-writing campaign after multiple attempts since May 2022 to contact Minister of Affordability and Utilities Matt Jones and his predecessor Dale Nally resulted in only one response.

Andrea Farmer, Jones’ press secretary, told Global News the government is exploring options to expand the electricity rebate to sub-metered units, and said the ministry will be reaching out to the society to discuss the issue.

“The department of Affordability and Utilities is currently evaluating options to provide this relief efficiently and tax free while also ensuring program integrity for both taxpayers and the intended recipients,” Farmer wrote in an email.

She anticipated updating condo owners “in the coming weeks.”

Rosenzweig said the government’s recent response was “encouraging” given the type of people who typically buy condos — retirees and new families — are being hit hard by inflation.

“I’m glad to hear at least that Minister Jones is saying there’s a possibility and he’s said that they’d like to make it more inclusive,” Rosenzweig said. “But they’ve still never talked to us.

“We know that the legislature doesn’t come back into session until the end of February. So we’re hoping that Minister Jones will be able to announce some changes before then.”