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The Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, in partnership with the Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (CUC) is launching a Home Energy Efficiency Competition with prizes valued up to CI $35,000.

The Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure is committed to creating an energy efficient future for the Cayman Islands and to showing all members of the community how to reduce their energy, lower the cost of living and lower CO2 emissions. The Home Energy Efficiency Competition aims to help people do just that.

The competition is open to all homeowners in Grand Cayman who reside within their property. Eight homes will be chosen for Home Energy Audits worth up to CI$1,900 each. The audits will analyse the homes and determine where and how energy is being lost, what systems are operating inefficiently and recommend improvements that can be made to substantially lower utility bills.

One of the homes will be chosen to receive a full home ‘energy makeover’ worth up to $20,000. The retrofit will be unique to the home, based upon the results of the audit, but may include, solar water heater, smart thermostats, envelope sealing and spray foam attic insulation, energy efficient appliances, LED bulbs and more. The makeover should not only significantly reduce utility bills, but will also increase the value of the home, while reducing stress on Cayman’s electricity grid.

Minister of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, the Honorable. Joey Hew, said, “The Cayman Island’s Government is committed to creating a sustainable future for our community and to achieving the goals within our National Energy Policy. Helping our community to live in energy efficient homes is one part of this. Our long-term goal is to introduce green loans through banks, to make home energy efficiency retrofits achievable for the wider Cayman community. These could benefit homeowners whilst reducing the CO2 levels in the Cayman Islands and supporting a secure, sustainable future.”

Kristen Augustine, National Energy Policy Coordinator, said, “We are proud to be launching our Home Energy Efficiency Competition on what is National Energy Efficiency Day in the USA and are excited to make a long-standing impact on the lives of a number of Grand Cayman residents. The National Energy Policy has the goal of achieving a more sustainable lifestyle through responsible energy supply and consumption in Cayman. This competition is one step towards achieving this.”

“The competition is open to all homeowners that fit the criteria as listed on our dedicated website www.energy.gov.ky. We really hope Grand Cayman residents take this opportunity to make an impact on their monthly bills, while supporting the transition to energy efficiency.”

Sacha Tibbetts, Vice President of Customer Service and Technology at CUC, said “CUC is dedicated to providing Grand Cayman residents with dependable energy and our goal is to move from diesel-fuelled energy generation to renewable energy. We aim to create a 60% CO2 reduction by 2030. We are pleased to be partnering with the Ministry to launch this competition which we hope will really make an impact on the lives of the winners.”

The competition is part of Energy Cayman, the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure’s 12-month public education campaign to embed energy efficient knowledge and good practice into the Cayman community. This has been launched to help meet the goals in the National Energy Policy, which includes 70% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2037.

The competition launches on Wednesday 7 October 2020, with a closing date of Wednesday 18 November 2020. Entry is via a short form on the energy.gov.ky website. To apply for the Home Energy Efficiency Competition, visit www.energy.gov.ky/competition and complete the form. For full terms and conditions please see www.energy.gov.ky/competition.

The Home Energy Efficiency Competition also has the support of many of Grand Cayman’s companies including CEL Cooling, Mitsubishi, Cooling Pros, Foam Pros, Hurley’s Media and DART.

For further information on the National Energy Policy, visit www.energy.gov.ky or follow @EnergyCayman on social media.