The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) has announced that ACCA member Jay Monger of Excel Heating and Cooling, Harrisonburg, Virginia, represented ACCA on a policy summit in the U.S. Congress. Monger was part of the Energy Efficiency Policy Priorities in the 116th Congress panel discussion and spoke about how to modernize and expand federal energy efficiency tax credits. The policy summit was organized by the Alliance to Save Energy which has worked with ACCA on energy efficiency programs in Congress, including the Home Energy Savings Act, legislation that would renew and expand residential energy efficiency tax credits.

“It was great to see the contracting industry and energy efficiency groups come together and support more robust energy efficiency programs that address contractor priorities, including quality installation practices,” said Todd Washam, vice president, ACCA. “For several years, ACCA has been building coalitions and educating policymakers about the need to couple HVAC efficiency tax credits with proper installation requirements, and we are proud that our efforts are being recognized by members of Congress and the broader efficiency community. Jay Monger did a remarkable job speaking about these issues and helped build more support for these essential programs.”

“I am thankful for the opportunity to travel to Capitol Hill and represent my fellow contractors who share my beliefs about the value of a quality installation,” said Monger. “We support long-term efficiency programs that are predictable and robust enough to encourage consumers to make investments in more efficient equipment. Taking time to educate our nation’s policymakers is an important step in getting these efforts through the legislative process and signed into law. I look forward to more opportunities to represent our industry and support meaningful efficiency programs.”

The bipartisan Home Energy Savings Act would do the following:

• Reinstate and extend the energy efficiency tax credit in section 25C of the tax code through 2026
• Establish higher goals for energy-efficient home upgrades by modernizing the product-specific efficiency standards in section 25C of the tax code
• Increase homeowners’ incentives to make energy efficiency upgrades:
  • Increasing the credit from covering 10 percent to 15 percent of the cost of efficiency upgrades
  • Raising the lifetime cap on the credit from $500 to $1,200 to encourage multiple efficiency projects
  • Increasing incentive caps for individual product categories, e.g. raising the credit for a high-efficiency air conditioner investment from $300 to $600.