nuclear-news

US taxpayers can save with energy efficiency and renewables

Tax Incentives Promote Energy Efficiency, Renewable Power A Look at Ways Savvy Homeowners Can Save Money Now and in the Future, SolveClimate.com, by Renee Cho – Apr 4th, 2010
With taxes on the mind this month, some homeowners are discovering just how much investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy can pay off.

When Congress last year passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), better known as the stimulus package, it gave homeowners some powerful financial incentives for greening and weatherizing their homes.

How much? In the case of Barbara Gardner, a long-time homeowner in Sacramento, Calif., the local and federal savings added up to almost half the cost of a solar power system — and she erased her utility bill, once $1,100 a year, in the process.

We installed 44 free-standing solar panels in the back field in 2008 but didn’t finish the job until 2009 because we heard about the tax credit,” Gardner told SolveClimate.

“The system would have cost us $55,000, but after a rebate from SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) of $15,300, based on the number of kilowatt hours our system was expected to produce, and the federal tax credit of $12,000, the net cost was $28,000.”

Moreover, she now sells extra electricity back to SMUD.

Raymond Lou, an accountant and lawyer in Glen Rock, N.J., explained how two of his clients also took advantage of the tax credits on a smaller scale for 2009:…….

The EIA projects that electricity from renewable energy will grow from 9 percent of total U.S. electricity generation in 2007 to 16 percent in 2030 due in large part to the federal tax credits and other incentives. But it also projects that this growth will slow significantly when the tax credits expire, according to Chris Namovicz, a renewable energy analyst at EIA.

Maintaining tax incentives would not only promote continued growth for renewables, it also would keep boosting the baseline for energy efficiency standards…….

Another federal incentive program may be just around the corner. To stimulate more energy efficiency and job creation, President Obama recently proposed the $6 billion Homestar Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program, which, if approved by Congress, would offer homeowners additional rebates for energy efficiency improvements — such as insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling) units, new windows, roofing and doors — and create an estimated 168,000 new jobs.

Tax Incentives Promote Energy Efficiency, Renewable Power | SolveClimate.com

April 5, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, USA | energy efficiency, renewable energy, renewables