The province says it's pleased with Energy Efficiency Alberta, the agency it launched last year as part of its climate leadership plan.

CEO of the agency, Monica Curtis, says 50,000 households have taken advantage of rebates on some appliances and items like LED lights, as well as for renovations.

"Albertans purchased nine million energy efficient products ... which will amount to $200 million in energy savings over the life of those products," she said, at an event celebrating the first year of the agency.

Curtis said over 15,000 new windows have been installed, nearly 700 tankless water heaters and over two million square feet of insulation.

Savings and GHGs

In all, she said the agency has saved Albertans approximately $300 million in reduced energy costs and avoided three million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

"The numbers show that although it's early days for our agency, Albertans are already benefiting from energy efficiency and renewable energy programming," Curtis said.

Energy Efficiency Alberta is funded through the carbon tax and has an annual budget of $132 million. Curtis said they've spent $111 million to date.

She said they have not yet concluded an examination of the cost effectiveness of the program, looking at investment versus savings, but anticipates it will be in line with other similar programs in Canada.