When the electricity went out in December for customers of Duke Energy across the state, the Heffelfingers weren't concerned about the situation in their home in north Raleigh since they had backup generators.
According to what Bill Heffelfinger claimed, the house was nice and warm when they got there, and there was lots of light. They invited their family and friends over.
This past June, the couple had solar panels installed on their roof, but several years before that, they began taking steps to make their home more energy efficient.
"We improved the HVAC in our building. It was the first step that we took. I began outfitting my home with LEDs and other intelligent devices as far back as 2008, "he remarked. "You were such an early adopter."
The Heffelfingers' decision to install renewable energy systems will qualify them for a tax credit as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act passed at the federal level.
"It does not mean there will be a reimbursement. It is not a synonym for refund. That is short for credits "he said. "Supposing the tax credit for your solar installer was $10,000, how much would you get back? At the end of the year, if you still owe the government $10,000 in taxes, the $10,000 credit will be subtracted from that amount. You have now finished paying off your debt."
The state of North Carolina offers tax credits for energy efficiency, but those for renewable energy were phased out in 2015.
Mecklenburg County is represented by State Representative Wesley Harris, who has stated that he intends to file legislation during this session to reinstate the credits at the state level.
According to Heffelfinger, there should be financial incentives to encourage more individuals to go toward renewable energy.
He stated, "I think the state is motivating people to do this and making it affordable," and he believed that the state was doing both of these things. "We're fortunate. We were really thrifty. We have the ability to accomplish this. That comes at a high cost."
The Heffelfingers are looking to make some financial savings as a result of the changeover, but they are also concerned about its reliability. They are caring for elderly parents and would like, if at all possible, to be able to provide a home with energy.
The rolling blackouts that occurred in the previous year provided ample evidence of how vital that is and demonstrated the benefits to their house as well as those of others.
Heffelfinger stated, "I'd like to think that having solar actually helped our neighbors because we weren't pulling anything from the grid on December 24." "I'd like to think that because we had solar, we actually helped our neighbors on December 24." "We were operating completely independently."