Testimony of Scott Williamson
Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter
Oversight Hearing on the DC Green Finance Authority
Committee on Transportation and the Environment
Thursday, January 26, 2023, 9:30 am
Councilmember Allen, thank you for the opportunity to testify at this oversight hearing on the Green Finance Authority, or “Green Bank” for short, and thank you for your strong leadership on environmental issues. My name is Scott Williamson, and I am a member of the Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter’s Clean Energy Committee. The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. The DC chapter has about 3,000 dues-paying members.
The Sierra Club remains strongly in support of the Green Bank’s mission to drive private investment to clean, efficient, and green building projects in the District. Building energy use represents around 70% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, and so the Green Bank’s work tackles the heart of the climate crisis challenge in D.C. We are also heartened to see the Green Bank building partnerships and expanding lending activity. In addition, the Green Bank’s commitment to identifying projects that advance equity considerations throughout the District has been consistent and effective. The Green Bank’s commitment that it will not finance on-site combustion of fossil fuels in buildings as of October 1, 2022 removed the primary concern we raised at last year’s oversight hearing. The Sierra Club thanks the DC Council for ending Green Bank financing of fossil fuel projects.
Despite this progress and the expectation of strong support from both the Inflation Reduction Act and a potential national green bank, challenges remain that the Green Bank is not yet built to address. The District, propelled in large part by city’s legislation passed through this committee, is moving toward electrified net-zero buildings and the infrastructure to support electric vehicle fleets. Going forward, the Sierra Club sees a dire need for greater coordination across agencies, and a greater need for education and skill development in the building sector related to zero-carbon buildings and infrastructure. IRA homeowner incentives will also need support if we want rapid adoption of clean appliances by LMI households. We believe the Green Bank can do more to fill some of these gaps.
Within the Green Bank, we see a need for greater technical capacity within the entity itself on building decarbonization. The bank must know what it wants developers to build in order to assess whether it is funding projects that align with a true zero-carbon-in-2050 outcome. It must also have the bandwidth to spend staff time communicating that expectation to the developer and contractor communities, where there is a need to raise awareness.
More generally, a broader coordination effort around how projects will serve many zero-carbon goals at once (most principally electrification of heat and cooking with support for EV charging) requires a concerted vision and approach incorporating the Public Service Commission, Department of General Services, Department of Buildings, Department of Transportation and DOEE. The Climate Commitment Act requires a task force be convened, and we urge the Council to inquire into progress. Failing such a collaboration, the risk of incomplete designs and partial progress—buildings that achieve one or two goals well, but not others—is high.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes billions of dollars of incentives for residents, business and building owners to transition buildings from fossil fuels to electricity. People with incomes at or below 80% of area median income are eligible for rebates of $8,000 for heat pumps, $1,750 for heat pump water heaters, $840 for induction or electric stoves, and up to $6,500 for electric upgrades. But in most cases, the rebates will not cover the full cost of the upgrades, and many low- and moderate-income households will not be able to make up the difference on their own. To bridge the gap, the Green Bank should establish programs to provide low- or no-cost financing and other financial assistance to homeowners, renters, owners of rent-controlled apartment buildings and affordable housing, and affordable housing developers to combine IRA rebates with Green Bank assistance to transition buildings off fossil fuels like methane gas.
For people with incomes above 80% of area median income, tax rebates of up to $2,000 are available for heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and electric upgrades. Though we need to begin the transition with low- and moderate-income residents, everyone will need to transition away from fossil fuels, so we also call on the Green Bank to provide financing to households and businesses eligible for Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to provide financing for clean energy upgrades. Without robust efforts to work with DC residents to access the financial incentives of the Inflation Reduction Act, DC will lose out on millions of federal dollars that can be used to lower utility bills, eliminate sources of indoor air pollution, and reduce climate pollution.
Thank you again, Councilmember Allen, for the opportunity to testify today.