The White House announced six new actions to lower home electricity costs for hard-hit American families by increasing access to affordable and more reliable clean energy and create clean energy jobs.
Earlier this week, the White House released a fact sheet covering six new actions aimed at implementing new programs to help maintain a consistent and affordable energy supply to cool their homes following extreme heat which continues to wreak havoc.
According to the fact sheet, the six actions include:
- Connecting Families to Low-Cost Solar Power: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is issuing new guidance that – for the first time – will help enable families in HUD-assisted rental housing to subscribe to local community solar where available. With this guidance, HUD setting the stage for 4.5 million families to reap the benefits of community solar which, on average, can save families 10% per year on their electric bills. In some programs, such as the Washington, DC Solar for All program, savings to households from subscribing to local community solar can reach up to 50% per year.
- Connecting States to Low-Cost Solar Power: The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are announcing that Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Washington, D.C. have signed up to pilot the Community Solar Subscription Platform which is designed to connect community solar electric bill savings projects to households participating in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). DOE estimates that families in the pilot states and Washington, DC will see over $1 billion annually in combined electric bill savings.
- Empowering Rural Housing Authorities to Save Families Money: Building on guidance from last year, HUD will launch a new initiative to help small rural housing authorities make money-saving energy efficiency upgrades and retain the savings from those projects to reinvest in improvements to rural HUD supported rental housing.
- Strengthening America’s Solar Workforce: DOE will announce that $10 million in funding is available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Advancing Equity through Workforce Partnerships program to support new workforce programs that expand union density and increase participation from underserved and underrepresented groups in the rapidly growing solar industry. This funding will help to ensure that the hundreds of thousands of solar jobs that will be created over the next decade will be accessible to workers from all backgrounds, provide competitive wages and benefits, and offer opportunities for union membership.
- DOE is announcing the Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar, a new awards program to recognize communities that are implementing best-in class community solar programs and projects that lower costs and increase access for families.
- Bringing New Federal Resources to Communities: HUD announced that HUD regional offices will convene stakeholders in their regions over the next 90 days to highlight federal funding sources– including funding streams from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and HUD programs such as the HOME Investment Partnerships program and the Community Development Block Grant – that can be used to support public facilities and increase affordable housing supply that improves energy efficiency.
