The federal government's ecoEnergy program provided up to $5,000 for efficiency upgrades to homes. (CBC)

Some Alberta companies that do home energy-efficiency upgrades are upset that the federal Conservatives abruptly ended a program that subsidized the retrofits.

The ecoEnergy Retrofit initiative provided grants of up to $5,000 for homeowners to carry out energy-saving improvements.

The program was due to end March 31, 2011, but the Natural Resources Department announced at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday that it would not accept new bookings for energy audits as of midnight that night. An audit is a prerequisite for anyone wanting to receive the federal cash, which can be used toward a new furnace, better insulation or a more efficient water heater, for example.

Calgary-based Verdatech Energy Management and Consulting has been doing such audits all over Alberta. Owner Stephen Farrell said Thursday that he will now have to lay off about 25 of the 40 people who work for him.

Farrell said he had two hours' notice of the new deadline, and his staff continued to take calls and book appointments up to the last minute so people would still qualify for the program.

"We actually kept our lines open up until midnight last night to accommodate anybody," Farrell said. "But if somebody calls me today, unfortunately, from a federal point of view, there's no more grants for them."

Albertans can still tap into a provincial program run by Climate Change Central, Farrell noted.

But the end of the federal grants means jobs created with economic stimulus money will be lost.

"This was funded by stimulus spending, which is about creating jobs. We did that, and now, we're having to take away those jobs," Farrell lamented.

"I'm sure that it will slow down business," added Nick Weran, owner of Edmonton-based City Furnace Replacement. I know some people who have been waiting to get the audits done. Hopefully, they had them booked."

The federal government says it's not accepting new applications for home-upgrade grants because the $300 million in ecoEnergy cash still to be spent is just enough to cover people who have already signed up for the program.

"We want to make sure that Canadians that called for an appointment, that they will be eligible for the grants, and there is a lot of requests now in the pipeline, so we have to make sure that we operate within our budget," Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis said.