Speed!
How soon can the IRA make an impact?
Buddy was speedy, sometimes too fast to photograph! When young, he was THE fastest dog in the park. Yes, a whippet or greyhound could catch him running straight, but he would turn like a halfback and be gone again.
The huge dollar incentives for clean energy in last August’s Inflation Reduction Act give us hope that our emissions can start falling. But these incentives may be slow making it into the pockets—and into the decisions!—of utilities, contractors, and consumers.
WHY DO WE NEED SPEED?
We must wring the benefits out of the IRA fast—for two reasons.
First, the obvious: because the more green energy we use the faster we’ll reduce our CO2 emissions. And many analysts say we have only a few more years of emissions before climate change accelerates beyond control.
Second, less well known: because speed begets speed. We need to get into the virtuous circle called the Learning Curve. Higher volumes of solar and wind energy begets economies of scale in producing the stuff; those lower costs beget lower prices; those dropping prices attract more usage, in turn causing economies of scale, and the magic circle accelerates. Nothing brings prices down more dramatically than volume, and nothing raises volume faster than low prices.
This week, four months after the IRA became law I contacted some organizations to see how they are promoting and administering the IRA energy provisions. Here’s what I learned.
Utilities involved in producing, distributing and pricing our electricity. I phoned the electric power companies in Washington State and Rhode Island. Neither their customer service reps nor their websites were able to give me any information. One response on the phone: “Oh yes, somebody else asked about that. I expect we’ll get information about it in the New Year.”
State Energy Offices administering a variety of energy programs for housing, rural communities, municipal vehicles, and more The head of the Washington State Energy Office, by coincidence travelling “to chat with DOE folks about this program,” emailed me back from the airport. He said, “You’re right. Most of the incentives will run through the State Energy Office. The timing is a different story. Federal incentives will come on line in the new year, but the incentive programs won't roll out from the Department Of Energy until the spring at the earliest.”
I decided not to ask for timetable information from the federal agencies set to administer the IRA, such as the Treasury, Energy, Interior, or Agriculture Departments, or the EPA. These days I read lots of commentary saying, for example, “a law this size requires thousands of personnel and agency staff to work through its details and release critical guidance in a timely, accurate manner.”
The Sierra Club I was pleased to hear when I contacted the club’s Climate and Clean Energy Organizer that they are working with “the parts of the IRA that incentivize transition to clean, electric appliances from fossil fuel-powered heating, cooling, and cooking.” I will talk further with the club and report in more detail on their activities soon and how we might help. I am still looking for other national groups whom we can join and help push the IRA implementation faster.
The Internal Revenue Service Among federal agencies, the IRS is the exception. To the extent that lawmakers made federal income tax rebates the biggest method of spending IRA funds, they are by-and-large using existing channels, rules and paperwork. In its simplest form, we get a receipt for the Energy Star appliance, the heat pump, the insulation or other qualifying purchase, list it on IRS Form 5695, and deduct it from the “Amount You Owe” line on our 1040. The Service has announced they’re hiring 4,700 more people, 700 of them to “help taxpayers in person.”
WHAT WE CAN DO
The best way to shut down a pipeline, to stop fracking, to stop the government from selling more oil & gas leases on public land - the best way to do all this is to render the stuff that’s drilled for and fracked and piped too expensive to sell. The IRA provisions can do this.
At the moment we can keep watch for local hearings, meetings, and requests for input on IRA-related developments. These will mostly come from town, county and state entities responsible for energy and land use. For instance, we can do an online search every week focused on our state or county, starting with
“Inflation Reduction Act” implementation energy Iowa
(Include “energy” to exclude the many healthcare provisions of the Act.) We can search under All, but sometimes what we want is under News or Images.
I’ve always had a sense that public officials welcome inquiries about their projects and use them to persuade other officials. We can each make a few calls, attend a hearing, send an email or letter. And get our friends and family to do the same. We should mention we’re a senior, a student, a parent, whatever. (Handwritten letters have a special impact!)
READ, LEARN, ACT
The best summary of the IRA’s energy benefits I’ve found is from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Another good one from the Taxpayer Advocate Service.
They also offer a short analysis of the challenges to its implementation.