Shaheen, Hassan Join Legislation to Lower Costs of Home Heating Options
(Washington, DC) — U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) helped introduce a bipartisan bill to help more Granite State families afford residential home biomass heating technologies that can save them thousands a year. The BTU Tax Credit Expansion Act incentivizes the purchase of these innovative heating sources by increasing the maximum rebate for these alternative stoves and boilers from $2,000 to $8,000. Once purchased, the stoves only cost a few hundred dollars a year to fuel and maintain – significantly lower than other heating options.
“With energy costs straining family budgets, I’m glad to support this bipartisan legislation to help make residential home heating technologies like highly efficient wood boilers, stoves and heaters more affordable,” said Shaheen. “Investing in these cost-effective heating options not only lowers energy bills for Granite State families but also benefits the environment by reducing fossil fuel emissions. I’ll continue working in the Senate to support better utilization of natural resources to meet our energy needs, cut costs for Granite Staters and combat the climate crisis.”
“Granite Staters are struggling to keep up with their heating bills this winter, which is why we must keep working on ways to help lower energy costs,” said Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation will help make it more affordable for families to upgrade to energy efficient heating sources, which will help lower their energy bills. I will keep working across the aisle on ways to make home energy more affordable.”
The bill was introduced by Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and cosponsored by Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The initial clean energy rebates were included in the Inflation Reduction Act which passed the Senate in August 2022.
Senator Shaheen is a leading policymaker on energy efficiency priorities. From her landmark bipartisan legislation to address energy efficiency building codes with Senator Portman (R-OH) to her leadership as a negotiator of the bipartisan infrastructure law and her consistent advocacy to include robust funding for important federal programs in annual government funding legislation, Senator Shaheen has secured significant investments in the energy efficiency sector over the years. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shaheen has consistently secured federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to assist low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes pay their energy bills and stay safe during the winter. Last year, Shaheen joined a bipartisan coalition of senators in a push urging for the swift release of LIHEAP funds. Shaheen also champions the Weatherization Assistance Program and other energy efficiency measures to help Granite Staters keep their energy usage down and lower their monthly bills. She authored an op-ed for the Union Leader, reminding Granite Staters of the resources and opportunities available to help reduce energy costs at home by making important energy efficiency modifications. The op-ed can be read in full here.
Senator Hassan is working across the aisle to bring down energy costs for Granite Staters. During negotiations on the government funding legislation from September, Senator Hassan worked closely with her Democratic and Republican colleagues to successfully secure additional direct heating assistance for families. Senator Hassan also led the New England delegation in calling on President Biden to lower energy costs by releasing oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. Senator Hassan successfully included in the Inflation Reduction Act her measure with Susan Collins (R-ME) to help lower energy costs for families and reduce carbon emissions by expanding and extending a tax credit for energy efficient home upgrades.
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