Policy Roadmap

By Rewiring America, May 2021

Decarbonizing the American economy through widespread electrification is imperative to address the climate crisis, and can drive enormous benefits:

Up to 25 million good-paying jobs, in every community in the country
Immediate savings on utility bills for nearly 103 million American households, over half of which are low-and-moderate-income
Improved air quality, indoors and out, particularly important for children’s health

To get there, we need to electrify all 121 million households in the United States. That will require significant and coordinated policy support, starting with the federal government. That’s why Rewiring America has developed a comprehensive federal policy framework.

Principles

The framework lays out a suite of critical policy measures that are organized around the following four key principles:

Every American household -- including, and especially, low-to-moderate income households -- should be able to afford to switch to modern electric equipment;
These clean electric appliances should be made in the United States, and the costs of purchasing and installing them should be on par with, or lower than, those of their fossil-fuel counterparts;
The work of rewiring America should be done by local workers earning good wages; and
The electrification process should be as simple and seamless as possible for every household in America.

Mission to Electrify Everything

Progress at the federal level will be catalytic and help ensure equity in the transition to zero emissions. It will open up opportunities at the state and local level where so much of this work will need to be done. And, it will drive economic demand that will lower costs and spur more American innovation and manufacturing to produce clean electric heat pumps, water heaters, cooktops, clothes dryers, and other machines that power our lives.