By Richard Deppe
RDeppe@cherryroad.com

The inflation reduction act is the biggest environmental justice bill in history. The bill was granted $369 billion in funding meant to go towards climate solutions and environmental justice.

The plan is to cut emissions by 40% by the year 2030. The foundation has been in place for a few years and is getting finalized.

The goal of this act is to improve efficiency, health, and affordable housing through different channels. The funding is going to be distributed in two ways.

The first half will be things such as grants, rebates, and funding. The second half is going to be by tax credits, we’re looking at individual as well as housing.

This is on a state-to-state level therefore no funding can be approved until it is looked at by the state as well as reviewed by the DOE.

Utah was awarded $62 million as part of the solar for all sections of the act.

The next bit of this is the home energy rebates which are divided into two sections as well.

The environmental justice piece of this is the larger rebates are going to be set aside for lower and moderate-income households for this Utah was awarded 141 million dollars for this.

This probably will not be accessible until 2025. Though they are upgrading items in home it is recommended to keep appliances that are in good condition.

“Living your appliances lifetime can help reduce your carbon footprint,” said Carly Hall.

When picking the firm for the multi-home projects the state of Utah rejected four in state firms and went with one in California most likely due to the cost difference. The lowest bid was two million while the highest was around eleven million.

For the single home there is not a chosen firm for Utah yet. They also have not chosen an implementation firm for Utah.