When William Huggins learned that Congress was considering the Inflation Control Act, he sent emails and signed petitions in support. Today, he is one of the first Las Vegas homeowners to reap the economic benefits.
He will soon get thousands back in tax credits for buying his electric Tesla Model Y and installing a solar-powered skylight. It’s the least he can do to combat climate change in one of the fastest-warming cities, Huggins said.
“We have two kids, and that’s what it’s all about,” Huggins said from his porch in Silverado Ranch.
Huggins welcomed Democratic U.S. Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada and a number of Las Vegas environmental leaders to his home on Tuesday. The ceremony follows several ribbon-cutting ceremonies held across the country this month to showcase how homeowners benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax incentives.
Two years have passed since Lee and her Democratic colleagues voted to pass the bill, considered the largest investment in reducing carbon emissions in world history. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote needed to get the bill through the Senate.
Tax credits provide large individual savings
Huggins received a $7,500 tax credit for his electric vehicle. The solar tubes that capture sunlight from the roof and direct it to his skylight cost $2,600 to install, and he gets a 30 percent rebate, or $780.
And he’s not alone. More than 41,000 Nevada families saved $151 million on clean energy investments in 2023 thanks to Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The tax credits are also popular. A recent University of Maryland poll found that more than half of Republicans and Democrats in Nevada support the electric vehicle credits and electric vehicle charging stations.
One of Lee’s main reasons for voting for the bill was to give the middle class the financial freedom to invest in home projects like solar power, she said.
“Many people don’t have the cash to make these investments,” Lee said. “And that was the important thing about the Inflation Mitigation Act.”
Although Republicans have long criticized the law, tax breaks for energy projects enjoy some bipartisan support.
The only Nevada lawmaker to vote against the bill, U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, signed a letter this month with other Republicans urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep in mind “the importance of a healthy and thriving domestic energy sector” when considering calls for a complete repeal of the law.
When he voted, he considered the provisions to hire new IRS agents and to impose a minimum tax on corporations to be the least effective, Amodei told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
However, the letter claims that tax breaks for clean energy remain effective.
“Early elimination of energy tax credits, particularly those used to justify investments already underway, would undermine private investment and halt developments already underway,” the Republican lawmakers wrote. “A complete elimination would create a worst-case scenario.”
How to find your next home upgrade
Glenn Georgens, owner of the company that installed Huggins’ solar tubes, said he has been installing them in people’s homes in Las Vegas since 1997. Sun Cat Skylights has helped install more than 32,000 solar tubes, he said.
Solar tubes are just one energy solution people should consider for their homes, Georgens said.
Rewiring America, a nonprofit organization focused on energy transition, offers a calculator designed specifically for Nevada to visualize the savings that could be achieved through various energy efficiency improvements.
In her remarks Tuesday, Lee said rooftop solar panels can save homeowners an average of $1,500 a year. Solar for All, Nevada’s program that uses federal funds to cover the cost of residential solar panels, received the green light from the Environmental Protection Agency last week to use its $156 million grant.
“The climate problem cannot be solved alone,” says Georgens, the owner of the solar tube company. “Everyone has to do their part.”
Contact Alan Halaly at [email protected]. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
