Home Star Rebate Program Update

Upon last check, the Home Star Energy Retrofits Program is still sitting in the Senate finance committee, awaiting to be placed on the calendar for consideration.  The Home Star program will provide $6 billion in rebates to consumer to increase the efficiency of homes across the U.S.

As you may remember, the House passed a similar measure in early May and the Senate has two other versions sitting in the finance committee.

The most popular version (as of right now) is Senate Bill 3434 which is creating a bit of a stir in the contracting world.  SB3434 requires home owners to hire contractors that have been accredited by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) in order to be eligible for some of the larger rebates available under the program.  Furthermore, SB3434 requires contractors to give the home owner the rebates when the service is performed and petition for a refund of the rebate after the work has been completed instead of requiring the home owner to apply for the rebate directly.

Though I am in favor of this wonderful program since I believe it will result in the savings of millions of dollars across the US while reducing the carbon footprint of residential housing, I am a little concerned by the limiting of competition through restricting qualified contractors from participating in the program.  The result of these actions, I believe, will only lead to higher costs due to a smaller pool of qualified contractors.  Being able to prove that there is a demonstrated savings in annual utilities costs and increased efficiency of the home is important to the success of the program, it is important that make the access of capable and competent contractors available to home owners as well.

I will be watching with anticipation to see how this program begins to take shape as it passes through the multitude of debates in the Senate.  If you would like to follow the program yourself, visit thomas.loc.gov and search Senate Bill 3434.