Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

A new rebate program for home retrofits proposed by the Obama administration could save homeowners hundreds of dollars a year and create new jobs, according to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

“The single act of retrofitting these home to make them more energy efficient is one of the fastest and easiest things that we can do to put Americans back to work while saving families money and reducing harmful emissions,” Solis said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “In short, this is a triple win. We are meeting the needs of workers, employers and home owners.”

Solis added that the administration will offer training programs to instruct workers in retrofitting. The secretary contended that the program is an important step in recovering the hard-hit construction industry.

The $6 billion program would be divided into two rebates, the gold and the silver star, which would be added to the current energy tax rebate program that was enacted under the Recovery Act, according to Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner.

The silver star program would issue a 50 precent rebate for point of sale purchases on energy saving equipment up to $1,000 and cap the credit amount to $3,000 per home. The gold star program would be an overall rebate of $3,000 on whole home energy retrofits.

Browning estimates that around 2-3 million homes would be affected and homeowners could stand to save around $200- $500 per year in energy costs.