Tampa Republic

On April 20, 2023, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14), former chair of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, reintroduced a package of three clean energy bills to boost access to solar energy and help Americans power their homes with lower costing clean energy. As we celebrate Earth Day, Rep. Castor is working to connect families and businesses with the historic clean energy tax credits made available through the Inflation Reduction Act and ease the transition to solar energy.

“Expanding access to affordable, clean energy will save families money on their utility bills, create jobs in communities across America, reduce pollution, and improve public health across the board. Extreme MAGA Republicans in D.C. want to take away the benefits of the transition to cleaner, cheaper energy sources that are being made more accessible than ever by the new tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. My new bills will only smooth the path towards solar and other renewable energy sources,” said Castor. “Let’s act now to improve our electric grid, cut the cost of electric bills and harness the power of the sun here in the Sunshine State and across the nation.”

The three bills include:

• The Community Solar Consumer Choice Act would increase access to solar energy across the Tampa Bay area for all neighbors, regardless of income.
  • Community solar allows members of a community to jointly benefit from the energy produced by shared solar infrastructure. Typically, individuals and businesses own or lease a portion of a third-party solar infrastructure system, or purchase kilowatt-per-hour blocks of renewable energy that the system generates.
  • Local solar is a winning plan – it saves consumers money, creates jobs, and reduces harmful emissions. By expanding our clean electric grid and maximizing local solar and storage, we can reduce energy costs by $88 billion and create 2 million jobs by 2050.
• The Efficient Grid Interconnection Act would help families power their homes with affordable and abundant clean energy by reducing costly transmission congestion and connecting more low-cost renewable energy to the electric grid.
  • Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to equitably allocate network upgrade costs among all beneficiaries; and
  • Directs FERC to require grid operators to study deploying grid-enhancing technologies to defray the costs of traditional transmission upgrades, saving everyone time and money.
• The Enhancing Electric Grid Resilience Act would improve our electric grid, expand access to clean energy, and slash electric bills for Americans by improving cost allocation for priority transmission lines.
  • Encourages broad cost allocation for transmission facilities of national significance consistent with the “beneficiary pays” principle. A transmission facility of national significance is an interstate or offshore wind transmission line that has a transmission capacity of at least 1,000 megawatts; or an upgrade or expansion of an interstate or offshore wind transmission line that increases the transmission capacity by at least 500 megawatts.

Original source can be found here.