Investigate Incentives Before Making Green Investments

Nobody likes to pay full price when it comes to renewable energy projects or energy efficiency initiatives. Oftentimes, developers do not have to pick up the entire tab thanks to rebates or other incentives offered by local, state and national governments, utilities or nonprofit organizations. Being able to take advantage of an incentive can mean the difference between a project getting done or not done. Before investing in any form of renewable energy--solar, wind, etc.--or any technology that results in greater energy efficiency for your property, be sure to check out the DSIRE website. I have written about the site before and it is a great resource to find available incentives. DSIRE recently updated its site with additional programs.

The DSIRE home page features a U.S. map for easy access to incentives and policies available in each state. Clicking a state or territory provides a list of available incentives and policies in that state, organized into two categories: (1) Financial Incentives and (2) Rules, Regulations & Policies. The Search tool on the DSIRE home page allows users to search all incentives and policies by state, incentive type, technology type, implementing sector and/or eligible sector. Searching by any of these criteria provides a comprehensive list of applicable incentives and policies, with links to each program summary. To view or print all summaries, click "See All Summaries" at the top of the page.

DSIRE tracks relevant incentives and policies for all investor-owned utilities in the United States. However, because there are thousands of electric cooperatives and municipal utilities across the country, DSIRE's scope is generally limited to incentives and policies established by electric cooperatives and municipal utilities with more than 30,000 customers. (If your utility is relatively small, contact the utility directly to find out if incentives are available.)

To find out which incentives and policies have been added or updated during the past two months, click What's New? on the DSIRE home page.

Have you taken advantage of an incentive such as a rebate or tax credit to get a project done? I would love to learn about it. Leave your comment here.