Kristen Cheriegate | ICAST Policy Analyst
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Inflation Reduction Act Signed by President
On August 17, the White House released a fact sheet regarding the Inflation Reduction Act and its priorities and most significant wins. The bill, which invests $369 billion in energy security and climate change alone, puts the United States on a path to reducing 31-44% of the nation’s net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Some of the most notable wins in the climate sphere are as follows:
- Up to $14,000 for home energy efficiency upgrades, including up to $8,000 to install a heat pump.
- Spurring solar project development in communities with a 20% bonus credit for solar projects on federally-subsidized affordable housing projects and a 10% bonus credit for solar projects in low-income communities.
- Providing funding for low-income families to electrify their homes, including $9 billion in home energy rebate programs.
- Creating jobs and increasing the United States’ energy security by investing $60 billion in manufacturing solar panels, batteries, and other clean energy technologies.
- Expanding access to clean energy by making clean energy tax credits more accessible and extending them by ten years.
- Creating a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator, which will seed state and local clean energy financing institutions, and support the deployment of distributed zero-emission technologies like community solar and EV charging, while prioritizing over 50% of its investments in disadvantaged communities.
Households that take advantage of these incentives should benefit from lower monthly energy bills, reduced bill volatility, and a lessening of disproportionately high energy burdens within disadvantaged communities.
Pepco’s Energy Efficiency and DER Programs Approved
The District of Columbia Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved a three-year energy efficiency and demand response (EEDR) plan for Pepco. The approved EEDR portfolio is composed of nine programs, including the Efficient Products Program, Quick Home Energy Check-Up Program, Residential Behavior-Based Program, Low- and-Moderate-Income Home Energy Program, Commercial Behavior-Based Program, Midstream Program, Existing Buildings Program, Low- and Moderate-Income Community Pilots, and Small Business Program. The program is estimated to achieve nearly one percent in annual savings and reduce carbon emissions by roughly 181,000 metric tons. The total budget is approximately $92.4 million, and approx. one-third of the costs are allocated to programs that benefit low- and moderate-income customers.
Massachusetts Enacts Impressive Climate Bill
Massachusetts’ Governor signed climate legislation on August 11 with some of the United States’ most aggressive restrictions on fossil fuels and sweeping incentives for clean energy, even as he expressed misgivings about the contents; some of the highlights are as follows:
- The sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the State will end in 2035.
- Ten municipalities will now be able to ban fossil fuel heat in new buildings; towns enacting fossil fuel bans must verify that 10% of their housing is affordable housing.
- New incentives have been added for offshore wind and solar.
- New rebates for personal electric cars and electric vehicle chargers, along with a requirement that all new public transit vehicles be zero-emission by 2030.