Finance Committee hears study on federal clean energy incentives

OKLAHOMA CITY –Federal clean energy incentives will bring billions of dollars into Oklahoma—that’s according to Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, who presented an interim study to the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday to help give members an overview of the programs available and how those dollars could be used to benefit Oklahoma, including an enhanced energy grid and workforce programs.

“The purpose of this study was to help us learn more about the various programs and funds that are available to Oklahoma,” Boren said. “This is an unprecedented allocation of resources, so we need to be prepared to leverage those funds to achieve the maximum benefit for our citizens, achieving generational impact.”

Kylah McNabb, of Vesta Strategic Solutions, told senators about the different pathways for funding, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the American Rescue Plan. 

“In general, our electric grid is aging and is facing a fundamental change in how it operates, so there’s a substantial amount of infrastructure funding coming to the state and individual utilities to make those services more resilient,” McNabb said. “Oklahoma is primed to utilize the funding provided under the IRA due to its all of the above energy approach. As an energy state, we can use the funds to benefit not only growth in the workforce development areas of the energy economy, but also return money into Oklahoma residents’ pockets.”

McNabb said not only would consumers benefit directly from energy system improvements, such as grid enhancement, but other energy efficiency incentives, such as a 30 percent tax credit for installing new, energy efficient windows. She noted there were tax credits for builders, which will help spur additional business, with an additional benefit—homes that are built to good energy codes are actually stronger than those not built to code, something McNabb said she really appreciated after going through the 2013 Moore tornado.
 

To listen to the full interim study, go to https://oksenate.gov/live-proceedings, click “view our live senate sessions,” and select “new recordings” for the Sept. 27 Finance Committee meeting.

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For more information, contact:  Sen. Boren at 405-521-5553 or Mary.Boren@oksenate.gov