Sec. 30421. Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates and training grants
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In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $9,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2031, to institute guidelines for State energy offices to provide rebates to homeowners and aggregators for whole-house energy saving retrofits as authorized under section 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6322 ), which shall be made available as follows: $500,000,000 shall be available for the Secretary to award grants to States through the State Energy Program, which shall partner with nonprofit organizations to fund qualifying programs described in subparagraph
(B)that provide training courses and opportunities to support home energy efficiency upgrade construction services to train workers, both on-line and in-person, to support and provide for the home energy efficiency retrofits under paragraph (2). For the purposes of this paragraph, qualifying programs are programs that— provide the equivalent of at least 30 hours in total course time; are provided by a provider that is accredited by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council or has other accreditation determined to be equivalent by the Secretary; are, with respect to a particular job, aligned with the relevant National Renewable Energy Laboratory Job Task Analysis, or other credentialing program foundation that helps identify the necessary core knowledge areas, critical work functions, or skills, as approved by the Secretary; have established learning objectives; include, as the Secretary determines appropriate, an appropriate assessment of such learning objectives that may include a final exam, to be proctored on-site or through remote proctoring, or an in-person field exam; and include training related to— contractor certification; energy auditing or assessment; home energy systems (including Energy Star-qualified HVAC systems and Wi-Fi-enabled home energy communications technology, or any future technology that achieves the same goals); insulation installation and air leakage control; health and safety regarding the installation of energy efficiency measures or health and safety impacts associated with energy efficiency retrofits; indoor air quality; energy efficiency retrofits in manufactured housing; and residential electrification training and conversion training. A State energy office may use not more than 10 percent of the amounts made available to the State energy office under this paragraph to administer a qualifying program described in subparagraph (B), including for the conduct of design and operations activities. Of the amounts made available to a State under this paragraph, 85 percent shall be used by the State— to support the operations of qualifying programs, including establishing, modifying, or maintaining the online systems, staff time, and software and online program management, through a course that meets the applicable criteria; to reimburse the contractor company for training costs for employees; to provide any home technology support needed for an employee to receive training pursuant to this section; and to support wages of employees during training. Amounts made available under this paragraph shall be used, as necessary, to cover or reimburse allowable costs incurred after the date of enactment of this Act. Amounts made available under this paragraph which are not accepted, are voluntarily returned, or otherwise recaptured for any reason shall be used to fund grants under paragraph (2). 95 percent of amounts made available under this section shall be available to the Secretary to award grants to State energy offices to establish Home Owner Managing Energy Savings (HOMES) Rebate Programs through the State Energy Program under part B of title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq. ), in accordance with the formula for the State Energy Program in effect on January 1, 2021. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall coordinate with State energy offices to ensure that programs that receive awards are formulated to achieve maximum greenhouse gas emissions reductions and household energy and costs savings. In order to receive a grant under this section a State shall submit to the Secretary an application that includes a plan to implement a qualifying State program that includes— a plan to ensure that each home energy efficiency retrofit under the program— is completed by a contractor who meets minimum training requirements, certification requirements, and other requirements established by the Secretary; and includes installation of 1 or more home energy efficiency retrofit measures that are modeled to achieve, or are shown to achieve, the minimum reduction required in home energy use, or with respect to a portfolio of home energy efficiency retrofits, in aggregated home energy use for such portfolio; a plan— to utilize, for purposes of modeled performance home rebates, modeling software, methods, and procedures for determining and documenting the reductions in home energy use resulting from the implementation of a home energy efficiency retrofit that is calibrated to historical energy usage for a home consistent with BPI 2400, that are approved by the Secretary, that can provide evidence for necessary improvements to a State program, and that can help to calibrate models for accuracy; to utilize, for purposes of measured performance home rebates, open-source advanced measurement and verification software approved by the Secretary for determining and documenting the monthly and hourly (if available) weather-normalized baseline energy use of a home, the reductions in monthly and hourly (if available) weather-normalized energy use of a home resulting from the implementation of a home energy efficiency retrofit, and open-source advanced measurement and verification software approved by the Secretary; and to value savings based on time, location, or greenhouse gas emissions; procedures for a homeowner to transfer the right to claim a rebate to the contractor performing the applicable home energy efficiency retrofit or to an aggregator, if the State program will utilize aggregators; if the State program will utilize aggregators to facilitate delivery of rebates to homeowners or contractors, requirements for an entity to be eligible to serve as an aggregator; quality monitoring to ensure that each installation that receives a rebate is documented in a certificate, provided by the contractor to the homeowner, that details the work, including information about the characteristics of equipment and materials installed, as well as projected energy savings or energy generation, in a way that will enable the homeowner to clearly communicate the value of the high-performing features funded by the rebate to buyers, real estate agents, appraisers and lenders; and a procedure for providing the contractor performing a home energy efficiency retrofit or an aggregator who has the right to claim such rebate with $200 for each home located in an underserved community that receives a home efficiency retrofit for which a rebate is provided under the program. Of the amounts provided to a State energy office under this section, 85 percent shall be used to provide Home Owner Managing Energy Savings (HOMES) Rebates to— individuals and aggregators for the energy efficiency upgrades of single-family homes of not more than 4 units— $2,000 for a retrofit that achieves at least 20 percent modeled energy system savings or 50 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower; $4,000 for a retrofit that achieves at least 35 percent modeled energy system savings or 50 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower; or for measured energy savings, a payment per kilowatt hour saved, or kilowatt hour-equivalent saved, equal to $2,000 for a 20 percent reduction of energy use for the average home in the State, for homes or portfolios of homes that achieve at least 15 percent energy savings, or 50 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower; multifamily building owners and aggregators for the energy efficiency upgrades of multifamily buildings— $2,000 per dwelling unit for a retrofit that achieves at least 20 percent modeled energy system savings up a maximum of $200,000 per multifamily building; $4,000 per dwelling unit for a retrofit that achieves at least 35 percent modeled energy system savings up to a maximum of $400,000 per multifamily building; or for measured energy savings, a payment rate per kilowatt hours saved, or kilowatt hour-equivalent saves, equal to $2,000 for a 20 percent reduction of energy use for the average multifamily building in the State, for multifamily buildings or portfolios of buildings that achieve at least 15 percent energy savings, or 50 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower; or individuals and aggregators for the energy efficiency upgrades of single family homes of 4 units or less or multifamily buildings that are occupied by residents with an annual income of less than 80 percent of the area median income as published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development— $4,000 for a retrofit that achieves at least 20 percent modeled energy system savings or 80 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower; $8,000 for a retrofit that achieves at least 35 percent modeled energy system savings or 80 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower; or for measured energy savings, a payment rate per kilowatt hour saved, or kilowatt hour-equivalent saved, equal to $4,000 for a 20 percent reduction of energy use for the average multifamily building in the State, for multifamily buildings or portfolios of buildings that achieve at least 15 percent energy savings, or 80 percent of the project cost, whichever is lower. Not less than 25 percent of the funds provided to a State energy office under this section shall be used for the purposes of each of clauses (i), (ii), and
(iii)of subparagraph (D). In calculating total energy savings for single family or multifamily homes under this section, a program may include savings from the purchase of high-efficiency natural gas HVAC systems and water heaters certified under the Energy Star program until the date that is 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act. Not to exceed 20 percent of any grant made with funds made available under this paragraph shall be expended for planning and management development and administration. Amounts made available under this paragraph shall be used for single family, multifamily, and manufactured housing rebates and the Secretary shall, in consultation with States, contractors, and other technical experts design support, methodology, and contractor criteria as appropriate for the different building stock. Rebate amounts made available through the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program established under subsection (b)(1) of section 124 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 15821 ) (as amended by section 30422 of this subtitle) may be used in conjunction with the funds made available under this section. In this section: The term aggregator means a gas utility, electric utility, or commercial, nonprofit, or government entity that may receive rebates provided under a State program under this section for 1 or more portfolios consisting of 1 or more energy efficiency retrofits. The term contractor certification means— an industry recognized certification that may be obtained by a residential contractor to advance the expertise and education of the contractor in energy efficiency retrofits of residential buildings; and any other certification the Secretary determines appropriate for purposes of the HOMES Rebate Program established under subsection (a)(2). The term contractor company means a company— the business of which is to provide services to residential building owners with respect to HVAC systems, insulation, air sealing, or other services that are approved by the Secretary; that holds the licenses and insurance required by the State in which the company provides services; and that provides services for which a rebate may be provided pursuant to the HOMES Rebate Program established under subsection (a)(2). The term Energy Star program means the program established by section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6294a ). The term home means a building with not more than 4 dwelling units or a manufactured housing unit (including a unit built before June 15, 1976), that— is located in the United States; was constructed before the date of enactment of this Act; and is occupied at least 6 months out of the year. The term HVAC system means a system— is certified under the Energy Star program; consisting of a heating component, a ventilation component, and an air-conditioning component; and the components of which may include central air conditioning, a heat pump, a furnace, a boiler, a rooftop unit, and a window unit. The term multifamily building means a building with 5 or more dwelling units. The term State energy office means the State agency responsible for developing State energy conservation plans under section 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6322 ). The term underserved community means— a community located in a ZIP Code that includes 1 or more census tracts that are identified as— a low-income community; or a community of racial or ethnic minority concentration; or any other community that the Secretary determines is disproportionately vulnerable to, or bears a disproportionate burden of, any combination of economic, social, and environmental stressors.
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Sec. 30421
Home energy performance-based, whole-house rebates and training grants
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