Okotoks town council is pushing the Province to provide incentives to Albertans to install renewable energy systems in their homes and it’s looking to other municipalities to back its proposal.

Okotoks council voted unanimously to pitch the idea to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) at its fall convention.

The MD of Foothills will take the issue in front of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties later this year as well.

If approved by the two associations, they would take the lead role in lobbying the provincial government for incentives for renewable energy or systems that tie into the provincial energy grid.

“What I want to do is put the pressure on the Alberta government, but we’re doing it through the municipalities, who in-turn go through AUMA, if it passes, who will in turn pressure the Alberta government and work with them to encourage renewable energy incentives for Albertans,” said Coun. Naydene Lewis, who proposed the idea to council.

Lewis said she would like to see the provincial government provide incentives, be they tax breaks or other options, to home owners who install solar or wind power or other systems that feed electricity back into the provincial power grid.

She said the biggest impediment to people putting renewable energy systems on their homes or making them a grid-tie system is the cost.

“It’s something so that it’s affordable for everybody to have it on their homes,” said Lewis. “What I want to see is people to be able to afford to have renewable energy on their house and have grid-tie systems.”

Lewis suggested the Province could pay for the incentives through oil and gas royalties.

She also said the proposal could eliminate the need for a new electricity transmission system currently being proposed in Alberta.

Lewis said renewable energy incentives would generate a number of benefits including to help put more energy into Alberta’s electrical grid.

Lewis said she would like to see municipalities put in charge of the incentive program, which would be funded by the provincial government.

With municipalities in charge, she said they could keep track of how much electricity is generated and how much carbon dioxide emissions have been averted. Lewis said municipalities would then be able to participate in carbon credit markets and earn benefits from energy savings.

“The way I want it to work is I want it to go through the municipalities so that towns like Okotoks… get the recognition for the carbon that their not emitting,” she said.

Lewis said it will save municipalities and taxpayers money in the long-run.

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