President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act is helping lower electricity bills for many by harnessing solar energy. But the future of the flagship program remains uncertain in an election year.
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00:00Washington, D.C., a city in the grip of a heat wave.
00:06Its households are bracing for higher electricity costs,
00:09and the government is trying to help.
00:12Kalen Roach of the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility
00:15does outreach to let especially lower-income residents
00:18know how tapping into communal solar projects like this one
00:21can help lower their bills.
00:23So this is a 502-kilowatt system,
00:26and that services about 143 income-qualified
00:30district households across the district.
00:32And these systems can help district residents
00:35save up to $500 off of their electricity bills a year.
00:40The program, called Solar for All,
00:42essentially helps reduce electricity costs
00:44for low-income households
00:46by either directly installing solar panels
00:48on the roofs of beneficiaries
00:50or letting them subscribe to community solar facilities.
00:54The D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility says
00:56the aim is to get a 50% reduction in energy bills
00:59for 100,000 households by 2032.
01:03I especially like community solar
01:05because it really throws open the doors access-wise
01:09because it doesn't matter how old your roof is
01:12or if your property is shaded.
01:13Anybody can participate in it.
01:15The way that our program operates
01:16in terms of making sure that the funds
01:18are helping to incentivize installers and developers
01:22so that they have resources needed
01:24to make it economically viable
01:27and also spur on more innovation
01:30and more participation in the solar field.
01:34And the local program is about to get
01:36a huge federal financing boost
01:38via the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
01:40created by the White House's
01:42signature piece of legislation,
01:44the Inflation Reduction Act.
01:46Thomas Bartolomew is Associate Director
01:48for Policy and Compliance
01:49with the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment.
01:52With the Inflation Reduction Act,
01:54Congress and the Biden administration
01:56saw that this would be a great model
01:58for them to invest in as well.
02:00And they've taken $7 billion
02:03and they've made awards all across the country.
02:05So every state is going to get
02:07its own Solar for All program.
02:09So we were lucky enough to get one of those awards.
02:12We're getting a little over $62 million.
02:15And we plan to help something like 19,000
02:18more households through those investments.
02:22Cherise Perry-Brussell is one resident
02:24hopeful the program can help her
02:26rein in her costs.
02:27I just found out about the program,
02:29about the solar program to save energy.
02:31I don't know, none of my neighborhood
02:33or my community didn't know about
02:35the free solar panels to save energy.
02:37So we all got on it.
02:40The neighborhood's residents mostly acknowledge
02:42there is help available,
02:44but say more can be done.
02:46I know they got like programs for,
02:48you know, to help people.
02:49They do stuff, but I feel like
02:51some people can't get to them programs.
02:53And some people don't have enough money
02:55to do what they need to do.
02:56But a little bit more can help out.
02:59They do help you with electricity,
03:01utilities, but no,
03:03they're not doing enough to keep them down
03:05as far as a steady rate.
03:08Legislation that would step up
03:09these forms of assistance
03:10is not without its critics.
03:12Presidential candidate Donald Trump
03:14vowed to reverse the Inflation Reduction Act.
03:16It's certainly a possibility,
03:18given what candidate Trump has said
03:21about these and other programs.
03:23Well, Congress and the president
03:25can always change the laws.
03:26That is how that all works.
03:28I do think that the idea
03:29behind the Inflation Reduction Act
03:30is a really good idea,
03:32and the idea of incentivizing clean energy.
03:35And I think it's hard to defeat
03:36a good idea in the end.
03:38In this election, it will be up to voters
03:40to decide what is a good idea
03:42and who has them.
03:43Therese Perry-Russell says she's undecided.
03:46Oh, nope.
03:47I'm doing my research as they come.
03:49I'm doing my research as they come.
03:52After a scorching summer of campaigning
03:54sets up the election in the fall,
03:56many here hope solar is here to stay,
03:58whatever the political weather.