| Homeowners interested in adding rooftop solar panels, installing heat pumps and otherwise green-ifying their houses have plenty to like in the big climate, health and tax package likely to pass Congress in the coming days, Alex Fitzpatrick reports. Why it matters: For consumers, the bill — called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — has an array of rebates and tax breaks that will reduce green tech's upfront costs. That tech, in turn, generally leads to lower long-term energy bills, among other benefits. - More broadly, for every home that goes green, our communities get just a little cleaner as less greenhouse gas is emitted, helping to curb the climate crisis.
Among the IRA's most important green home provisions: It extends a 30% federal tax break for rooftop solar installations for 10 years. - That incentive has been repeatedly left teetering on the legislative edge over the last few years. Guaranteeing its existence for another decade adds certainty for homeowners and the rooftop solar industry alike.
- Plus, home battery systems — which store energy generated by rooftop solar systems for later use, say, during a blackout — will qualify for the 30% credit for the first time.
Other IRA highlights include: - Rebates and tax credits for installing new, energy-efficient appliances — including heat pumps, electric stoves and electric dryers — as well as new circuit breaker boxes, which sometimes need to be replaced when retrofitting older homes.
- New incentives for developers to build energy-efficient homes, or to retrofit older ones.
What they're saying: "In transitioning from a fossil fuel economy to a clean energy-powered, efficient electric economy," says Ari Matusiak, CEO of electrification advocacy nonprofit Rewiring America, "what we will be doing is effectively transferring wealth back from energy producers to energy consumers." Donnel Baird, CEO and founder of retrofitting startup BlocPower, says the low- and moderate-income customers he works with "want to shift to clean energy for a variety of reasons, but they often can't afford the upfront costs — they don't have the budget." - The IRA's incentives, he says, will "make it so much easier and so much cheaper for working people and low-income people to access clean energy."
Baird also argues that electrification will have big public health benefits, citing recent research saying gas stoves emit pollutants that can worsen or cause respiratory illnesses. - "Cooking with gas in our homes is going to end up being like lead paint," he says. "It's this thing that we all thought was fine. And then it turns out that lead paint causes neurological disasters in kids."
Yes, but: Modernizing homes will still be expensive, even with the IRA's rebates and tax breaks. What's next: The IRA has already cleared the Senate, and it's broadly expected to pass the House by the end of this week. If that happens, the various homeowners incentives will phase in over time after President Biden signs the bill into law. Share this story. | 
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