The Biden administration is offering nearly $13 billion in assistance to low- and moderate-income Americans to help them reduce their energy expenditures. This assistance includes subsidies to cover electric bills as well as additional incentives to improve their houses’ energy efficiency.
During a visit to a union hall and training center for sheet metal workers in Boston later on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris planned to make the announcement, a senior administration official informed reporters in a call on Tuesday. The statement is in line with the administration’s initiatives to reduce energy expenditures in the face of abrupt temperature changes brought on by climate change.
The Low Income House Energy Assistance Program, which assists families in paying their energy bills and doing energy-related home repairs, will get $4.5 billion in financing under the program from the Department of Health and Human Services. According to the individual, the sum would include $1 billion in emergency financing that the administration requested earlier this year as well as $100 million from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
We are aware that the majority of the home energy needs of low-income households are covered by their winter heating expenses. Therefore, it is crucial that the money reach homes as quickly and effectively as possible, the source added.
The Biden administration would also provide around $9 billion to assist low- and moderate-income people reduce their energy bills via home renovations that are more energy-efficient.
The financing will support the installation of 500,000 heat pumps in up to 1.6 million dwellings.
According to the White House, the updated Weatherization Assistance Program would enable the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to weatherize an estimated 700,000 houses, keeping the administration on schedule to meet its target of weatherizing 2 million homes.
“In short, these programs will make energy-saving solutions available to low- and moderate-income households as states increase the deployment of 12 million new heat pumps by 2030,” the White House said in a statement.
Harris toured the country several months ago promoting the administration’s economy under the Inflation Reduction Act. More than $300 million of this program will be invested in the state of Massachusetts.