Clear this up first

FortisBC vs. BC Hydro: Why Your Rebate Options Are Completely Different

On this page
  1. Quick quiz: British Columbia rebates
  2. How to check which one you have
  3. BC Hydro rebates
  4. FortisBC: different programs, different focus
  5. See everything side by side
Quick quiz

Quick quiz: British Columbia rebates

A few questions from the programs we track. Tap an answer to see why.

1. The most this program can pay: BC Hydro EV charger rebate. How much?

BC Hydro EV charger rebate pays up to $550. Official page, checked October 16, 2026.

2. The most this program can pay: Local EV charger top-up. How much?

Local EV charger top-up pays up to $150. Official page, checked October 3, 2026.

3. The most this program can pay: BC Hydro windows and doors rebate. How much?

BC Hydro windows and doors rebate pays up to $2,000. Official page, checked October 2, 2026.

4. The most this program can pay: BC Hydro heat pump rebate. How much?

BC Hydro heat pump rebate pays up to $4,000. Official page, checked October 9, 2026.

5. The most this program can pay: BC Hydro heat pump bonus. How much?

BC Hydro heat pump bonus pays up to $1,000. Official page, checked October 9, 2026.

Estimate my rebates
A modern house with a heat pump unit on the outside wall

This sounds basic, but it trips up more people than you'd expect: BC has two major utilities, BC Hydro and FortisBC, and they run separate rebate programs. If you're reading about a rebate that doesn't seem to apply to you, this is usually why.

How to check which one you have

Look at your power bill — the company name at the top tells you. Most of the province is BC Hydro. FortisBC primarily serves the Southern Interior (Kelowna area electricity in some pockets, though most of Kelowna is BC Hydro), parts of the Kootenays, and it's also BC's main natural gas provider almost everywhere.

BC Hydro rebates

This is the program HomePowerRebate specializes in — up to $10,000 for solar + battery, up to $4,000 for heat pumps, plus Peak Saver rewards. FortisBC electric customers (like Kelowna) can't use BC Hydro's programs. See the full side-by-side.

FortisBC: different programs, different focus

FortisBC's home energy programs lean toward efficiency upgrades — free home energy evaluations, insulation, and heat pump incentives — rather than a dedicated solar + battery rebate like BC Hydro's. If you're a FortisBC customer specifically looking at solar, your rebate math will look different, and it's worth checking FortisBC's own program details directly.

The one thing to get right first: confirm your utility before you get quotes. An installer who doesn't ask this question, or gives you BC Hydro-specific rebate numbers without checking, is skipping a step that changes your entire budget.

See everything side by side

We built a full comparison of every BC and federal home energy program — BC Hydro, FortisBC and CleanBC (the federal Greener Homes Grant is closed) — so you can see exactly what applies to your situation in one place.

Compare every BC program

See BC Hydro, FortisBC, and federal rebates side by side.

See all programs →

Keep learning

Short reads and quick quizzes on how rebate programs work.

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