Islander continues fight to remove HST on solar electricity he produces

An Island homeowner continues campaign to remove the sales tax charged to Canadians who produce their own solar electricity and bank it with a local utility through a net metering program.

Net metering programs allow a homeowner who generates their own electricity to bank excess through the summer by feeding it into the grid in exchange for credits which they use to power their homes in the winter.

The goal for the owner of a "net-zero" home like Kris Currie is to generate all the electricity they need over the course of a year themselves.

But Currie was dismayed to find out after he built his home that he would pay HST on all the electricity he used — even though most of it he generated himself.

"You're being taxed on producing your own electricity, which is kinda crazy," said Currie. "You're being taxed to reduce your footprint, make a better home, make a better quality home."

'Fairness questioned'

Among the politicians Currie reached out to looking for change was P.E.I. Senator Percy Downe.

Downe took the issue up with federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, asking him to review the situation with the P.E.I. government.

"Mr. Currie, quite understandably, questions the fairness of this" tax policy, Downe wrote.

2 separate transactions

"This state of affairs would seem to be an unintended consequence of a tax policy that did not take into account the implications for net zero homes…. It makes even less sense for someone to be charged HST for something he isn't actually buying."

Morneau's reply pointed out that feeding electricity into the grid and then drawing it out again are considered separate transactions between a homeowner and a utility company, and both are subject to GST/HST.

The letter stated Currie could register to collect HST on the electricity he feeds into the grid. Currie has said the extra costs and paperwork to do that would outweigh the benefits.

Lack of incentives 

Currie did receive some relief from the P.E.I. government in the past year, with the province removing the provincial portion of the HST from part of all residential electric bills. That move has cut the tax Currie pays on his electric bill roughly in half.

But overall Currie criticized the province for a lack of incentives to encourage more homeowners to do what he's done.

He said he spent an extra $45,000 to build a net zero home — including $6,000 HST on materials like extra insulation and the solar panels themselves.

New incentives rolling out in 2019

Currie said since his initial story went viral Canadians all across the country have reached out to him to ask about creating their own net zero homes.

"Everybody wants to be able to do it. It's to make it affordable … and to have just a little incentive to be there."

P.E.I.'s executive director of climate change and environment Todd Dupuis told CBC the province would introduce new incentives for solar energy in 2019, but didn't provide details.

Downe said he had also written a letter to P.E.I.'s finance minister but was still waiting for a reply.

The province told CBC it had asked the Canada Revenue Agency for a ruling on the taxation of energy produced under its net metering program.

That ruling confirmed what the federal finance minister told Downe — that electricity is a taxable supply, and Maritime Electric is required to charge HST on the full value of that supply, even if the customer is being credited for the electricity itself.

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