US Energy: DOE Upgrades One Million Homes as Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Provides Massive Investment in Energy Efficiency

U.S. Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm traveled to Delaware today to announce that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has upgraded one million American homes with energy efficiency improvements through the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program. The trip and milestone underscore the importance of the weatherization and energy efficiency investments that are within the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Since 2001, the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program has helped American homeowners and renters save $7.7 billion on their energy bills and cut carbon emissions equivalent to a year’s worth of 11 coal-fired power plants.

“DOE’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program has helped one million homeowners make energy-savings improvements at an affordable price,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal’s historic investments in energy efficiency and weatherization, we will ensure more Americans can benefit from cleaner air, more resilient homes, and lower energy bills.”

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® is a national home improvement program administered by DOE in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve the energy efficiency of single-family and low-rise multifamily homes. It connects homeowners with a network of over 1,300 home performance contractors and utility and nonprofit energy efficiency program administrators to make upgrades that save energy and improve the comfort, health, and safety of their homes. Together with its Weatherization Assistance Program, DOE has serviced almost eight million U.S. homes with the same home energy improvements that the transformative investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and the Build Back Better agenda will accelerate.

Sponsors and their networks of contractors follow a proven “whole-house” approach set by DOE guidelines to assess and improve home energy use with the most comprehensive and economically feasible upgrades, such as sealing leaks to control outside air from entering the home, adding insulation, or installing a new clean heating and cooling system like an ENERGY STAR®-certified heat pump. Additional savings can be achieved by installing rooftop solar panels, EV chargers, or connected home products like smart thermostats that can monitor and adjust energy use. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will invest in the American workforce to ramp up the manufacturing of solar panels, wind farms, batteries, and electric vehicles to grow clean energy supply chains the U.S. can export to the world.

“I always like to say the cleanest form of energy is the energy we save and never have to use. It’s great to welcome Secretary Granholm in Delaware as we celebrate the success of this program in reducing energy costs for consumers. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that awaits President Biden’s signature makes historic investments in modernizing our infrastructure, including funding to make our homes more energy-efficient and resilient to climate change. That’s good for people’s wallets and good for the planet,” said U.S. Senator Tom Carper, Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

“We know that investing in energy efficiency is one of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and help fight the climate crisis,” said U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE). “That’s why the ENERGY STAR program is such an important tool to help Delawareans weatherize and make their homes more energy efficient. These are the kinds of critical investments that President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal continues to make throughout our country. I was thrilled to welcome Secretary Granholm to the First State for this historic announcement and look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Energy as we Build Back Better.”

Energize Delaware, an award-winning sponsor, oversaw the energy upgrade of the millionth home in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate this national achievement with Secretary Granholm today as we recognize this home and the 9,000 others Energize Delaware has upgraded across the state,” said Tony DePrima, Executive Director of Energize Delaware. “The $11.6 million in rebates homeowners received made these upgrades affordable, and now they’re reaping the benefits on their energy bills to the tune of $2 million each year.”

Additionally, the EPA has launched new residential sector partnerships to accelerate efficiency and electrification retrofits with a focus on underserved residential households through its ENERGY STAR Home Upgrade Program. With rebates for home weatherization and electrification in the President’s Build Back Better agenda, these interagency efforts will provide consumers, utility programs and energy efficiency service providers with greater access to residential energy efficiency solutions and technologies, which will enable many more households to lower their energy burden, which is especially high for low-moderate income households.