From the KDP: The Inflation Reduction Act Delivers Affordable Clean Energy for Kentucky
FROM THE KENTUCKY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
The Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant legislation in U.S. history to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen American energy security. It will lower energy costs for households and businesses, create manufacturing jobs for American workers, and deliver a clean, secure, and healthy future for our children and grandchildren. The savings, jobs, and other benefits provided by this legislation will reach communities across Kentucky.
President Biden promised to combat the existential threat of climate change and build a clean
energy future that creates jobs, advances environmental justice, and lowers costs for families.
He’s following through on that promise with the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law.
• LOWER ENERGY COSTS: The Inflation Reduction Act will make it more affordable for
Kentucky families to purchase energy efficient appliances when they need to, make
repairs around their homes, and save money on their utility bills each month, through:
o Rebates covering 50-100% of the cost of installing new electric appliances,
including super-efficient heat pumps, water heaters, clothes dryers, stoves, and
ovens. In Kentucky, hundreds of thousands of low- and moderate-income
households are eligible for rebates.
o Rebates for households to make repairs and improvements in single-family and
multi-family homes to increase energy efficiency.
o Tax credits covering 30% of the costs to install solar panels and battery storage
systems, make home improvements that reduce energy leakage, or upgrade
heating and cooling equipment. No income limits apply.
o Tax credits covering 30% of the costs of community solar projects—owned by local
businesses that sign up families to save on their electric bills—with additional bonus
credits of 20% for projects at affordable housing properties and 10% for projects in
low-income communities.
o Grants to help state and local governments adopt the latest building energy codes,
which would save the average new homeowner in Kentucky 28.5% on their utility
bills—$708 annually.
• GOOD-PAYING JOBS: In 2021, there were already 35,437 Kentucky workers employed
in clean energy jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act will expand these opportunities, bringing
an estimated $13.9 billion of investment in large-scale clean power generation and
storage to Kentucky between now and 2030. It provides a historic set of tax credits that
will create jobs across solar, wind, storage, and other clean energy industries. These
credits include bonuses for businesses that pay a prevailing wage, so that Kentucky
workers earn a good paycheck as we build the clean energy future in America.
• DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING: Manufacturers employ 242,300 workers in Kentucky,
and the Inflation Reduction Act will help us make the technologies of the future at home—
supporting local economies and strengthening supply chains. The Inflation Reduction Act
will boost U.S. manufacturing of clean energy and transportation technologies, as well as
investments for a new Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment Program to position
America to lead the growing global market for clean steel, aluminum, cement, and more.
• SMALL BUSINESSES: Kentucky is home to 360,756 small businesses, representing
99.3% of all businesses in the state, and the Inflation Reduction Act will help them save
money. Commercial building owners can receive a tax credit up to $5 per square foot to
support energy efficiency improvements that deliver lower utility bills. Other programs that
will benefit small businesses include tax credits covering 30% of the costs of installing
low-cost solar power and of purchasing clean trucks and vans for commercial fleets.
• ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Inflation Reduction Act will make it easier and cheaper to
purchase an electric vehicle, with upfront discounts up to $7,500 for new EVs and $4,000
for used EVs, helping middle-class Americans skip the gas pump and save on fuel costs.
In Kentucky, millions of people will be eligible for these discounts. Kentucky recently
submitted a state plan for using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law to build out EV charging stations along highways.
• CLEANER AIR: The Inflation Reduction Act will significantly reduce pollution, resulting in
100,000 fewer asthma attacks in America in 2030, and position the U.S. to achieve
President Biden’s climate goals. Lowering greenhouse gas emissions will not only avoid
costly climate impacts from more extreme weather, but also improve local air quality—
preventing premature deaths and reducing air pollution. In addition to reducing pollution
across the economy, the Act will benefit communities most in need of cleaner air, with in
environmental justice block grants, investments for cleaner buses and trucks, and a Clean
Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that will prioritize emissions-reducing projects in
disadvantaged communities.
• RURAL OPPORTUNITIES: The Inflation Reduction Act supports climate-smart agriculture
practices, which will help Kentucky’s 74,100 farms lead on climate solutions and reward
their stewardship. Electric cooperatives, which serve about 850,000 homes, businesses,
and other customers in Kentucky, will for the first time be eligible for direct-pay clean
energy tax credits. And this legislation dedicates investments for rural electric
cooperatives to boost resiliency, reliability, and affordability, including through clean
energy and energy efficiency upgrades.
• RESILIENT COMMUNITIES: The Inflation Reduction Act will upgrade affordable housing,
including projects that boost resilience in the face of intensifying extreme weather. In
Kentucky, tens of thousands of people live in affordable housing units that are eligible for
upgrades like flood-proofing and storm resistance, as well as clean energy and
electrification. A new Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program includes support
for transportation projects and planning to protect against flooding, extreme heat, and
more. The Inflation Reduction Act also invests in strengthening America’s forests,
including programs focused on preventing wildfires and for tree planting projects that help
protect communities from extreme heat.