Making the Electric Bank Account Go Further

By Rachael Grace, Noah Goldmann, Sage Briscoe, Leah Stokes

Implementation recommendations for the $27B Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to prioritize deployment, equity and sustained growth to help every U.S. household use their Inflation Reduction Act incentives.

Key takeaways

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will drive transformative economic growth—for families, businesses and the economy at large. Much of this growth will be unlocked through electrification: the IRA will provide each American family an average “electric bank account” of $10,600 in incentives to electrify, which can ramp to an $858 billion cumulative investment in households and communities across the country. However, this growth is not guaranteed to be effective, equitable or sustainable.

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (“The Accelerator”) is uniquely positioned to fill these gaps. The Accelerator is a flexible, equity-first solution that will offer zero- or low-interest loans to supercharge the IRA’s consumer provisions, enable low-income households to successfully electrify, and build an inclusive electrification ecosystem. Our memo details four high-level implementation recommendations to ensure these outcomes are prioritized.

These include:

1. Paying out consumer tax credits and contractor rebates upfront through zero-cost bridge loans.

2. Enabling all Americans to electrify by lowering the financed cost of electrification.

3. Advancing equity by financing electrification readiness.

4. Developing the electrification workforce.