Eligibility

Your building eligibility and customer classification determine your eligibility for Commercial Geothermal Program incentives.

Building eligibility

Commercial buildings are eligible for incentives if installation of a geothermal heat pump will produce predictable and sustainable electrical savings. These buildings would be classified as an "electric base case" for base load space heating.

An example of an "electric base case" is a building retrofit from electric heating (electric furnace or baseboards). In this instance, installing a geothermal heat pump will reduce the building’s electricity consumption. However, a building that retrofits from a natural gas heating system is not eligible for incentives, as electrical consumption for space heating will be increased.

Building eligibility
Building type	Current primary space heating fuel	Feasibility study assistance eligibility	System Installation Incentive eligibility
New Construction	Not applicable	New construction projects may be eligible for feasibility study assistance and a System Installation Incentive through the New Buildings Program.
Existing	Electric	Yes	Yes
Retrofit	Natural gas	No	No
	Fuel oil and propane	Yes	To be determined by feasibility study

Customer classification

Manitoba Hydro customers may be eligible for incentives through the Geothermal Program if the following criteria are met:

• electric sector customers*:
  • Building has used electricity as primary space heating fuel for the previous 2 years of operation.
• Natural gas sector customers
  • Existing buildings that are heated by natural gas are not eligible for Feasibility Study assistance or a System Installation Incentive from the Commercial Geothermal Program.

* Electric sector customers do not require a Feasibility Study, as they pre-qualify for a System Installation Incentive. Electric sector customers that wish to perform a Feasibility Study may do so and receive Feasibility Study assistance.

Existing buildings that use other heating fuels

For customers with existing buildings that use heating fuels other than natural gas use the following criteria to determine customer classification:

Is the building property site located adjacent to an existing natural gas distribution pipeline?

• Yes: natural gas sector customer.
• No: for more information on eligibility, email us.

Overview of customer classification
Customer sector	Feasibility study required
Electric sector	No
Fuel oil and propane sector	Recommended but not required

View detailed Program Overview & Eligibility Criteria.