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Energy tax credits work -- read Jesse's op-ed in the 1/7/11 Business Journal
Want to know why energy tax credits work? Read Jesse Beason's op-ed in the 1/7/11 Business Journal.
Energy tax credits work for the economy
The debate about the Business Energy Tax Credit is an important one. The program offers tax credits for investment in energy-efficient building projects.
There are plenty of views about how the program can best balance revenue for vital government services with our collective interest to provide incentives for Oregon’s emerging green markets and reduced carbon use.
With the opening of the 2011 legislative session next week, this is a good time to illustrate how the program — commonly known as BETC (pronounced “Betsy,”) has helped low-income Oregonians build assets, save money and reduce energy use while contributing to our state’s goal of increased renewable energy generation.
Since 1999, Proud Ground — where I serve as executive director — has been working to help low-income families buy a home they can afford. Our unique model ensures that our homes will remain affordable forever. Increasingly, our focus has been on providing homes that will not only last for generations, but provide low utility costs. We see important connections between affordability, durability, and sustainability.
We have been fortunate to use Oregon’s High Performance Homes program, funded as part of our state’s BETC program, to help meet these green goals. The program helps defray the initial cost of energy conservation upgrades and puts renewable energy where we need it most, at the sites that use it. Homes are constructed with significantly tighter and better-insulated building envelopes than average new homes and outfitted with solar electricity, hot water and other renewable generators which are paid for, in part, by selling tax credits.
The benefits of this investment are not only greener homebuilders and living-wage jobs in renewable industries. The High Performance Homes program means that our low-income families are saving significantly on their energy bills.
On our most recent projects, families are saving up to 60 percent on utility costs. These extra dollars make a real difference in the lives of hard-working families — flowing directly back into our economy, while helping low-income Oregonians build assets and a strong stake in our green future.
Without the program, organizations like ours would likely continue our mission to create well-built homes. But those homes would lack the energy investments that the program makes possible. Given their incomes, the families we serve are unlikely to retrofit their homes.
Oregon families need sustainable homes more than ever. Oregon homebuilders need the opportunity to build better homes that support and grow our economy. The investments we make in conservation and renewable energy will pay off for years into the future.
The issues that this Legislature faces are monumental, complex and formidable. I do not envy the task. However, there need not be winners and losers in every deliberation about providing resources for public services versus economic development.
In my experience, the High Performance Homes model is exactly the kind of program that does both, providing economic and environmental sustainability to those that need it most while spurring innovation and jobs.
On behalf of the families we serve, my vote is to keep it.
Jesse Beason is the executive director of Proud Ground, a nonprofit homeownership organization serving low-income families in Multnomah and Washington counties.
View a copy of the actual article here
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