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Nevada has new tool to sum up electrification incentives

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Alex Gonzalez

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(Nevada News Service) Nevada leaders have announced a new calculator that will help homeowners and renters determine how much they can save by tapping into electrification incentives.

Kristee Watson, executive director with the Nevada Conservation League, explained that the tool is a "collaborative approach" to ensure Nevadans are able to save money and decrease reliance on fossil fuels. She said earlier this year her nonprofit went knocking door to door in Clark and Washoe counties and had conversations about Rewiring America's energy-efficient upgrade savings calculator with more than 25,000 Nevadans. She called it a game changer.

"We see it as our job to make sure that we are going out and educating people about how they can save money and drive down their energy usage, and this Rewiring America tool makes that easier," she explained.

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She said while there is a push to ensure lower-income Nevadans are also able to reap the benefits and funds made available through the Inflation Reduction Act, there are programs with less stringent income requirements, or none at all. You can find the incentive calculator at 'homes.rewiringamerica.org.'

Watson said as more Nevadans decide to make their homes more energy efficient, it'll take less energy to cool and heat them, meaning decreased levels of fossil fuels, which negatively impact the environment and public health. She added that the available incentives, rebates and tax credits will help folks save money now and in the future.

"We can tell people all day long, but sending them to an IRS website is a really negative experience and that is what we want to avoid. We want people to be making decisions that are going to protect air quality and health, but we want to do it in an easy way - a consumer friendly way," she said.

Representative Susie Lee, D-Nev., said she is proud to have helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act and bring federal dollars to southern Nevada communities who are on the front lines of what she calls the climate crisis. She added that the federal investments are creating jobs as well as advancing a resilient clean-energy economy.

"$14 billion in outside investment in clean energy projects in our state alone, that means 20,000 new jobs in our state with a projection of up to 40,000 new jobs over the next 10 years," she explained.