A White House announcement, winter $ savings and how to be an electric enthusiast

“On Wednesday, the White House announced that seven companies are joining with electrification nonprofit Rewiring America in a collaborative effort to educate their users and customers on the panoply of rebates, tax credits and low-cost financing for electrification and home energy efficiency available under the Inflation Reduction Act.” - Alison F. Takemura, Canary Media

This coalition of partners including Arcadia, Redfin, Lyft, Duquesne Light and Power, Mosaic, Arcadia and Propel, is one we could not have imagined materializing just a few months ago. But with the passage of the IRA, we find ourselves in a new reality, where business leaders are stepping up to electrify the company they keep – making sure employees and customers have access to electric education and the incredible new opportunities available to them, thanks to this bill.

As the White House announced last week, the work of this electric coalition will see us reach more than 10 million households. That’s 10 million households uttering the words induction stove at their kitchen tables. We couldn’t be more excited about this electrifying workplace work. Got a business you’d like to join this effort? Let us know.

ZAP RISING WINTER FUEL PRICES WITH ELECTRIFICATION

After the Game-of-Thrones-Winter-is-Coming coverage of the U.S. government’s official Winter Fuels Outlook, Rewiring America demonstrated that the flawed methodology obscures how much money Americans could be saving with heat pumps. By breaking heat pumps out from extremely inefficient electric resistance heat, and showing them as a separate data point, heat pumps are the clear winner as fossilflation and Russian aggression carve into American household budgets.

So we thought we’d break it down a different way to show how much every other winter heat source costs more on a daily basis than the economical heat pump. How much more?

Those are rounding error numbers for the most affluent Americans, but the difference between healthy meals and going hungry for many Americans, 49% of whom don't have $400 to their name, is profound.

For households that turn the heat on for just four months of the year (November, December, January, February), that’s 120 days multiplied by $8.44 a day more for fuel oil. So if you live in one of these six million homes in the United States, you could be saving more than $1,000 each year with a heat pump. The IRA provides up to $14,000 to low- and middle-income households to buy heat pumps and other appliances upfront. But beyond the purchasing cost discounts, families then get to lock in these lower energy bill savings for the life of their machines. So the accrued savings are even greater.

And with widespread adoption come bigger cost reductions and community benefits. Our Electric Potential map shows just how much every community will gain if we leverage the full opportunity of the IRA. Spoiler alert: a lot.

With the Inflation Reduction Act upfront discounts available starting in 2023, even a family with an income above the median in their area could see that heat pump paying for itself in five or six years. For an example, see the Garcia family case study on page 20 of Rewiring’s Go Electric IRA Guide.

THE WIRE

• "In a recent report, Rewiring America encouraged the DOE to invest $500 million in up to 10 facilities in the U.S. in order to “ensure that American manufacturing capacity can meet the increased demand.” Plus, deep thoughts from our Head of Special Projects, Sam Calisch.

• Our Senior Policy Counsel, Dr. Leah Stokes, sat down with Vice President Kamala Harris and got her to say the words heat pump, as well as profess her love for electric buses. Fun fact: The VP has two heat pumps in her home. Now to electrify 121 million more American households.

• Did you catch our video with teen electric race car driver Ellis Spiezia telling you how you can get up to $7,500 in EV rebates? What are you waiting for? What's so great is that Ellis is single-handedly launching American electric racing, with the goal of showing how you can lose the carbon, but keep the speed!

So many of you have reached out to ask how to amplify the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act to the world, or at the very least, your pickleball league. We’ve got you covered! Sign up here to be an Inflation Reduction Activator. You can start by simply sharing how you'll go electric today.