Federal budget 2023 includes green energy tax incentives to help Richmond Hill businesses

Highlighted measures include clean technology and clean electricity tax credits

Yorkregion.com
April 12, 2023
Melissa Wallace

Green and clean energy tax incentives provided by the federal government will go a long way in helping businesses and clients to meet their sustainability goals, officials say.

On April 4, Patty Hajdu, minister of Indigenous services and MP for Thunder Bay—Superior North, and Majid Jowhari, MP for Richmond Hill, visited Edgecom Energy and Circuit Energy in Richmond Hill to highlight Budget 2023 investments and measures to grow the economy and care for the environment.

“Overall, clean, and green energy incentives, such as tax credits, grants, and rebates, can provide significant benefits to industrial and commercial facilities that are considering solar, battery storage, power conditioning and other energy retrofits,” said Tanner Behrend, manager, funding and expansion, Circuit Energy. “We strongly support the provision of these incentives to all scales and types of industries. Especially during recessionary times when budgets are tight, these incentives can make or break a customer’s ability to hit their energy efficiency, sustainability, and decarbonization goals.”

Circuit Energy is a turnkey solutions provider for industrial and commercial clients seeking power conditioning, solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage/uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) systems. It has been headquartered in Richmond Hill since its inception in 2017 and works closely with its sister company, Edgecom Energy, on large-scale projects.

Both companies inform, educate and help their clients through the process of applying for and receiving green and clean energy tax incentives.

“Understanding clean and green energy incentives is imperative for engineering companies working with industrial and commercial clients because it can impact project planning, compliance, economic viability, and competitiveness,” said Behrend. “By being knowledgeable about these incentives, engineering companies like ours can provide better service to their clients and help them achieve their energy-related goals more effectively and sooner than otherwise possible.”

Some measures available through Budget 2023 that will deliver cleaner and more affordable energy, support investment in communities and create jobs include:

• The Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit: a 15 per cent refundable tax credit for eligible investments in non-emitting electricity generation systems, abated natural gas electricity-fired electricity generation, stationary electricity storage systems, and equipment for the transmission of electricity between provinces and territories.

• The Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit: a refundable tax credit equal to 30 per cent of the cost of investments in machinery and equipment used to manufacture or process key clean technologies, and extract, process, or recycle certain critical minerals essential to clean technology supply chains.
• The Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit: levels of support vary between 15 and 40 per cent of eligible project costs, with projects that produce the cleanest hydrogen receiving the highest levels of support.

“We cannot have a clean environment without a clean economy,” said Jowhari. “That's why as part of our government’s Budget 2023, we are making historic investments in clean electricity, investment tax credits, low-cost strategic financing, and targeted investments and programming.

“This will have an immense contribution towards Canada’s cleaner economy for future generations to come. It also means more economic prosperity, more middle-class jobs, and a greener and cleaner transition for Richmond Hill and across Canada.”

Learn more at budget.canada.ca.