Two Years In, the Inflation Reduction Act is Lowering Costs for Millions of Americans, Tackling the Climate Crisis, and Creating Jobs

 The Inflation Reduction Act is tackling the climate crisis by advancing clean power, cutting pollution from buildings, transportation, and industry and supporting climate-smart agriculture and forestry. The law is accelerating our progress toward President Biden and Vice President Harris’ goal of cutting U.S. climate pollution by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030.

Two years after the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris Administration has made tremendous progress implementing the climate and clean energy provisions of this law quickly and effectively. Treasury guidance is now available for nearly all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax provisions. On the grant, loan, and rebate side of the law, nearly two thirds of Inflation Reduction Act funding has been awarded. As an example of the Administration’s rapid progress on implementation, today the Environmental Protection Agency announced that all $27 billion in awards through their Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund are now obligated. $20 billion of these awards go toward a national clean energy financing network that will support tens of thousands of clean energy projects, reducing or avoiding millions of metric tons of carbon pollution annually over the next seven years. The other $7 billion in awards through the Solar for All program will save over $350 million each year on energy bills for over 900,000 low-income and disadvantaged households through residential solar.

In the two years since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law:

  • Clean energy projects are creating more than 330,000 jobs in nearly every state in the country, according to outside groups.
  • Companies have announced $265 billion in new clean energy investments in nearly every state in the nation. According to Treasury Department analysis, many of these investments are happening in underserved communities—since the IRA passed, 75% of private sector clean energy investments have occurred in counties with lower than median household incomes,  and clean energy investment in energy communities has doubled.
  • Last week, Treasury and IRS released new data showing that in 2023, more than 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion from IRA consumer tax credits on home energy technologies. These tax credits can save families up to 30% off heat pumps, insulation, rooftop solar, and other clean energy technologies.
  • New York and Wisconsin have now launched home energy rebate programs, with more states expected to launch later this summer and fall. Already, 22 states have submitted their applications to DOE to receive their full rebate funding. These rebate programs help low- and middle-income families afford cost-saving electric appliances and energy efficiency improvements by providing rebates up to $14,000 per household. In total, the IRA rebates programs are expected to save consumers up to $1 billion annually in energy costs and support an estimated 50,000 U.S. jobs in residential construction, manufacturing, and other sectors.
  • Since January 2024, more than 250,000 Americans have claimed the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV tax credits—either $7,500 off a qualified new electric vehicle, or up to $4,000 off a qualified used electric vehicle. In total, these taxpayers have saved about $1.5 billion and nearly all buyers claimed the incentive at the point of sale.