There are calls to revive a program that gave B.C. homeowners rebates for making their homes more energy efficient. (CBC)

There's a call for the B.C. government to reinstate a program that encourages energy conservation by offering homeowners up to $2,000 to retrofit their homes.

The LiveSmart BC program was such a hit with the public that it ran out of money in August, two years before the end of the program's anticipated three-year lifespan.

The Citizens' Conservation Councils on Climate Action, an advisory group created by the government of Premier Gordon Campbell, is pushing to have the rebates brought back.

"I'd like to see them reinstated," said group spokesman Don Hubbard. "I think there was a lot of good things happened."

The LiveSmart BC rebates allowed a lot of people to renovate their homes at a time the economy was sluggish, said Hubbard.

Provincial budget stressed

The minister of state for climate action, John Yap, acknowledges that the energy retrofits were very popular, but said it might not be the right time to revive the program.

"Of course if the [province's] fiscal picture improves, that would be one area that obviously we'd be interested in looking at."

The B.C. government is currently struggling to keep costs down in face of a $2.8-billion budget deficit.

Yap spoke in Victoria Wednesday as he accepted the final report from the Citizens' Conservation Councils.

The two sides agreed on the importance of the carbon tax — 2.4 cents a litre on gasoline has been collected since July 2008 — as a policy tool to encourage behaviour change and promote green initiatives in British Columbia.

Hubbard's career was in the paving industry — not usually a big supporter of fuel taxes. But he said he recognizes the role of the carbon tax in encouraging conservation.