Cash for Caulkers!
President Obama proposed a new program Tuesday that would reimburse homeowners for energy-efficient appliances and insulation, part of a broader plan to stimulate the economy. There aren’t details yet, but Congress is working on it. Steve Nadel, director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, who’s helping write the bill, said a homeowner could receive up to $12,000 in rebates.
We know energy efficiency “creates jobs, saves money for families, and reduces the pollution that threatens our environment,” Obama said. “With additional resources, in areas like advanced manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels, for instance, we can help turn good ideas into good private-sector jobs.”
The program contains two parts: money for homeowners for efficiency projects, and money for companies in the renewable energy and efficiency space. The plan will likely create a new program where private contractors conduct home energy audits, buy the necessary gear and install it, according to a staffer on the Senate Energy Committee and Nadel at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Nadel continued to say higher cost items like air conditioners, heating systems, washing machines, refrigerators, windows and insulation would likely be covered.
You might be eligible for a 50% rebate on both the price of the equipment and the installation, up to $12,000, said Nadel. So far, there is no income restriction on who is eligible. That would mean a household could spend as much as $24,000 on upgrades and get half back.
If you took full advantage of the program, you might see your energy bills drop as much as 20%, he said. The program is expected to cost in the $10 billion range.
It’s not clear how the home efficiency plan would be administered – the government may issue rebates to consumers directly, homeowners might get a tax credit, or the program could be run via state agencies. If consumers have to spend a lot of money up front to get the credit, it could throw a wrench in the works, David Kreutzer, an energy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, told CNN. “This will not be something that’s attractive to people who are having trouble already making their budget payments month to month or week to week,” he said. To keep consumers from having to spend thousands of dollars before getting reimbursed, Nadel said, one idea is to have contractors or big box retailers pay part of the cost up front. Fraud issues could also come up, Kreutzer said. “Any program that is going to run through a third party and is going to distribute billions of dollars needs to have lots of checks and balances to make sure there’s not abuse,” he said. Nadel noted that as a way to guard against fraud, contractors would have to be certified to participate.
We will keep up with the news for this program. Every little bit helps.
The Money Mom
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