Hi,
Is anybody tracking the proposed COOLER Act? I don't believe it has been introduced yet.
The idea is to encourage all air conditioners to include heating capability. In other words, to be heat pumps.
The proposed policy is analyzed in this report:Â
--Bob
Hi @Robert Mayo, I think you mean the HEATR Act, which provides tax credits for heat pumps and is summarized in this Canary article. A section of the HEATR Act is aimed at incentivizing what's discussed in that report – for manufacturers to replace their manufacturing of air conditioners with heat pumps instead. It seems to be a relatively simple change at a cost of perhaps an additional $400 per unit, and the bill includes a tax credit to cover that added cost. Any existing fossil fuel heating appliances would stay in place to serve as a backup on very cold days, because these heat pumps wouldn't be the best (bust most expensive) ‘cold weather heat pumps.’
It's a good idea with lots of benefits (lower energy bills, less climate and air pollution). It's not super expensive, but there is a cost – the report suggests in the ballpark of $5 billion, and I think HEATR was limited to $700 million, if I understood it correctly. Anything with a government cost will have a hard time finding Republican support if it's not paid for. And there's also the challenge of providing a subsidy for a clean energy solution over a fossil fuel alternative, given the fossil fuel industry's lobbying influence.
It also looks like HEATR was introduced by some Democratic senators in the prior session of Congress in 2022 and hasn't been reintroduced in the current session. Maybe that's because of the lack of bipartisan support for the bill.
@Dana Nuccitelli Thanks. I think a similar bill called the COOLER act is being discussed, but has not been introduced yet. I don't know a lot about it. I'm not even sure if it will be introduced.
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