|
The
U.S. administration has set a goal of installing 300 megawatts
of solar and other renewable energy in affordable housing by
2020, tripling a goal President Barack Obama set in 2013 that
has already been surpassed.
It is "really important for everyone to have access to solar and
other renewable energy technologies both for the energy itself
and the cost savings there, and also the employment
opportunities," Brian Deese, a climate and energy adviser to
Obama, told reporters in a teleconference on Monday.
Solar energy makes up less than 1 percent of the power generated
in the United States, but the industry is growing rapidly. The
300 megawatts is enough for about 50,000 homes and is part of a
wider White House goal to increase solar energy.
Asked whether power companies could try to recover costs to the
grid of setting up renewable power and undercut any savings for
low- to middle-income consumers, Deese said part of the effort
is to arm people with more information to make good decisions.
The administration will offer technical assistance to affordable
housing groups to install solar power and make it easier for
homeowners to borrow up to $25,000 for efficiency and solar
projects. In addition, AmeriCorps will help train 200 poor
people to get jobs in the solar industry.
Representative Elijah Cummings, who lives in Baltimore, said
solar energy "not only serves our planet by reducing pollution
and battling climate change, it also serves people by lowering
their energy bills, by giving our neighbors in struggling
communities more money in their pockets each month."
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Alan Raybould)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
