{"id":35247,"date":"2022-09-01T16:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?p=35247"},"modified":"2022-09-01T16:37:54","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T21:37:54","slug":"heres-what-illinois-consumers-need-to-know-about-inflation-reduction-act-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2022\/09\/01\/heres-what-illinois-consumers-need-to-know-about-inflation-reduction-act-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s what Illinois consumers need to know about Inflation Reduction Act clean energy benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-34294\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo-300x169.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo-800x450.png 800w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo-958x539.png 958w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/home-improvement-blog-photo.png 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Now that the historic <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2022\/08\/03\/cub-explainer-the-inflation-reduction-act\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has been signed into law, many consumers are wondering how they can benefit from the money-saving, clean energy provisions in the bill. The IRA represents much needed relief at a time when <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-08-23\/can-t-pay-utility-bills-20-million-us-homes-behind-on-payments-facing-shutoffs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 in 6 homes in America are behind on their utility payments<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below are the major ways consumers can take advantage of the new legislation:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Home Energy Efficiency Tax Credits<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each year for the next decade, consumers can claim a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost of qualified projects that make their home less drafty or improve energy efficiency, to an annual limit of $1,200 credit. These incentives include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up to $600 for highly efficient central air conditioners; electric panel upgrades; and water heaters, furnaces and water boilers that run on natural gas, propane or oil. These products must meet <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cee1.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consortium for Energy Efficiency\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> highest efficiency tier.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up to $150 for a home energy audit<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$600 for new energy-efficient exterior windows or skylights\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$500 for exterior doors<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Heat Pumps and wood burning stoves<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you purchase an energy-efficient electric or heat pump for space heating and cooling or a heat pump water heater, you qualify for 30 percent tax credits up to $2,000. Tax credits are also available for highly rated stoves and boilers that generate heat from burning wood or other biomass feedstocks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The credits for heat pumps or biomass stoves and boilers don\u2019t count against the $1,200 annual limit for the home energy efficiency tax credit detailed in the previous section.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Electrification rebates\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Inflation Reduction Act includes $4.5 billion over 10 years for state and tribal programs that discount or fund electrification and efficiency projects or appliances for lower and moderate-income households. The bill defines lower-income households by annual incomes less than 80 percent of the area median income. Moderate income is defined by annual income no greater than 150 percent of the median. (Learn how to find your <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lowincomerelief.com\/area-median-income\/#How_do_you_calculate_your_AMI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">area median income.<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lowest-income households are eligible for point-of-sale rebates covering the full cost of certain electrical appliances or efficiency projects. Moderate-income individuals and families can get half off. The cumulative rebates available to each household total $14,000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The law sets rebate caps for selected electric product classes. There is up to $8,000 available for purchasing space heating and cooling heat pumps. For heat pump water heaters, the maximum is $1,750. For electric stoves, it\u2019s $840.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The high-efficiency electric home rebates should also cover half or all the cost of upgrading electric panels up to a $4,000 limit. Other covered services are electrical work, with a $2,500 maximum, and insulation projects, up to $1,600.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Solar, batteries and geothermal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thanks to the new law, the existing 22 percent solar panel tax credit has been immediately bumped to 30 percent for the next decade. This tax credit is available now, so it\u2019s a great time to look into your local solar group-buy programs, like <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.growsolar.org\/chicagoland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grow Solar Chicagoland<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There\u2019s also a tax credit for home battery units with more than 3 kilowatt-hours of storage capacity, allowing the benefits of solar generation to stretch into shorter winter days. For more information, visit <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/clean-energy\/\">CUB\u2019s Clean Energy page<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Electric Vehicles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before the IRA, a helpful $7,500 tax credit was limited to the first 200,000 EVs a manufacturer sold, which meant it no longer was applicable to vehicles sold by companies, such as General Motors and Tesla, that had already reached the cap. The IRA does away with those caps. Used electric vehicles are eligible for a tax credit of $4,000 or 30% of the vehicle\u2019s value (whichever\u2019s lower). However, there are new eligibility requirements:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Domestic Manufacturing:<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Vehicle must be assembled in North America, with more specific battery production requirements\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A portion of the battery parts must be made in North America\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A percentage of the minerals that go into that battery production must be mined domestically or in countries with a free-trade agreement with the U.S.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Income eligibility requirements:<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> To qualify, individuals should make under $150,000 and couples under $300,000 a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cost:<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The law caps the value of new sedans eligible for the credit at $55,000 and trucks or SUVs at $80,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consumers will be able to get these credits at the dealership when purchasing a car starting in 2024. Until then, consumers can receive partial credit ($3,750) for domestically made vehicles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you put money down on a new EV before the act was signed but are still waiting on delivery, you can still qualify for tax credit with the new eligibility requirements. See the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/afdc.energy.gov\/laws\/inflation-reduction-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department of Energy\u2019s list of eligible EV models<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/plug-in-electric-vehicle-credit-irc-30-and-irc-30d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IRS\u2019s updated guidance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for EV <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buyers, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/citizensutilityboard.salsalabs.org\/ev\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CUB\u2019s EV Buyer Handbook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more information, check out these resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read CUB\u2019s previous blog posts on IRA:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2022\/08\/16\/cub-explainer-the-inflation-reduction-act-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Breaking: Inflation Reduction Act is signed into law<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2022\/08\/03\/cub-explainer-the-inflation-reduction-act\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CUB explainer: The Inflation Reduction Act<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rewiringamerica.org\/app\/ira-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rewiring America\u2019s IRA savings calculator<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for qualifying household information.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See the US Department of Energy <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/afdc.energy.gov\/laws\/inflation-reduction-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">list of currently qualifying electric vehicles<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Illinois.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">White House\u2019s fact sheet<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the IRA and Illinois. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbez.org\/stories\/how-the-ira-can-help-electrify-your-home\/73b1a048-f097-4358-829c-09cc8f4a4032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WBEZ Reset\u2019s conversation<\/a> with CUB Executive Director David Kolata on the IRA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been signed into law, many consumers are wondering how they can benefit from the money-saving, clean energy provisions in the bill. The IRA represents much needed relief at a time when 1 in 6 homes in America are behind on their utility payments.\u00a0 Below are the major ways consumers can take advantage of the new legislation:\u00a0 Home Energy Efficiency Tax Credits Each year for the next decade, consumers can claim a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost of qualified projects that make their home less drafty or improve energy efficiency, to an annual limit of $1,200 credit. These incentives include: Up to $600 for highly efficient central air conditioners; electric panel upgrades; and water heaters, furnaces and water boilers that run on natural gas, propane or oil. These products must meet Consortium for Energy Efficiency\u2019s highest efficiency tier. Up to $150 for a home energy audit $600 for new energy-efficient exterior windows or skylights\u00a0 $500 for exterior doors Heat Pumps and wood burning stoves If you purchase an energy-efficient electric or heat pump for space heating and cooling or a heat pump water heater, you qualify for 30 percent tax credits up to $2,000. Tax credits are also available for highly rated stoves and boilers that generate heat from burning wood or other biomass feedstocks. The credits for heat pumps or biomass stoves and boilers don\u2019t count against the $1,200 annual limit for the home energy efficiency tax credit detailed in the previous section. Electrification rebates\u00a0 The Inflation Reduction Act includes $4.5 billion over 10 years for state and tribal programs that discount or fund electrification and efficiency projects or appliances for lower and moderate-income households. The bill defines lower-income households by annual incomes less than 80 percent of the area median income. Moderate income is defined by annual income no greater than 150 percent of the median. (Learn how to find your area median income.)\u00a0 The lowest-income households are eligible for point-of-sale rebates covering the full cost of certain electrical appliances or efficiency projects. Moderate-income individuals and families can get half off. The cumulative rebates available to each household total $14,000. The law sets rebate caps for selected electric product classes. There is up to $8,000 available for purchasing space heating and cooling heat pumps. For heat pump water heaters, the maximum is $1,750. For electric stoves, it\u2019s $840. The high-efficiency electric home rebates should also cover half or all the cost of upgrading electric panels up to a $4,000 limit. Other covered services are electrical work, with a $2,500 maximum, and insulation projects, up to $1,600. Solar, batteries and geothermal\u00a0 Thanks to the new law, the existing 22 percent solar panel tax credit has been immediately bumped to 30 percent for the next decade. This tax credit is available now, so it\u2019s a great time to look into your local solar group-buy programs, like Grow Solar Chicagoland. There\u2019s also a tax credit for home battery units with more than 3 kilowatt-hours of storage capacity, allowing the benefits of solar generation to stretch into shorter winter days. For [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[929,759],"tags":[1402,775,1021,694,152,1350,1455],"class_list":["post-35247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clean-energy","category-policy-legislation","tag-building-electrification","tag-clean-energy","tag-consumer-guides","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-energy-efficiency","tag-heat-pumps","tag-inflation-reduction-act"],"cp_meta_data":{"classic-editor-remember":["classic-editor"],"_edit_lock":["1662068136:25"],"_edit_last":["25"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":[""],"_wpsp_is_facebook_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_twitter_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_linkedin_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_pinterest_share":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"borntogive_page_header_show_hide":["2"],"borntogive_pages_title_show":["1"],"borntogive_pages_Choose_slider_display":["2"],"borntogive_pages_select_revolution_from_list":["3"],"borntogive_pages_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_effects":["fade"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_social_show":["1"],"borntogive_strict_no_sidebar":["0"],"borntogive_sidebar_columns_layout":["3"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_effects":["fade"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["759"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35275,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35247\/revisions\/35275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}