Biden announces new funding to make homes more energy efficient

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks during a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles, and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson at the State Department in Washington, February 7, 2022.

Billions of dollars will be spent to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes in low income areas with the goal of making them more energy efficient while also lowering utility bills for Americans.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill was signed into law last year by President Biden. The Weatherization Assistance Program is designed to upgrade homes by installing insulation, updating heating and cooling systems, and switch to new electrical appliances.

The new funding will allow the program to retrofit about 450,000 homes, a major increase from the roughly 38,000 homes it currently serves each year, according to White House officials.

Home energy retrofits and upgrades can cut monthly energy bills for families and improve the air we breathe.

Granholm said that they would be able to help households in disadvantaged communities, reduce carbon emissions, and generate good-paying local jobs.

According to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, about 13% of the country's climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity production.

Biden wants to slash emissions in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. The program implements the administration's Justice40 commitment, which requires federal agencies to deliver at least 40% of benefits from specific funding to disadvantaged communities.

According to the Energy Department, the weatherization program began in the 1970s to slash utility bills and has delivered an average of $372 in annual energy savings for families.