Every day now, it seems, more money is being given to Kentuckians for the purposes of, uh, making us less dumb and not as poor. So it should come as no surprise, then, that the Red House has awarded nearly $4.1 million in Energy Star-rated appliance rebates. In theory, this means that if you’ve finally decided to put a .357 round through that duct-taped, freon-spewing Frigidaire that your grandpappy bought after The War, Uncle Sam will gladly help subsidize the purchase of a new one — with an icemaker, too!
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced today that Kentucky will receive up to $4,096,000 in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for its state-run rebate program for consumer purchases of new ENERGY STAR qualified home appliances. The new program underscores the Obama Administration’s commitment to make American homes more energy efficient, while helping to support the nation’s economic recovery.
“Appliances consume a huge amount of our electricity, so there’s enormous potential to both save energy and save families money every month,” said Secretary Chu. “These rebates will help families make the transition to more efficient appliances, making purchases that will directly stimulate the economy and create jobs.”
The only caveat? Nobody knows how much that rebate is going to be, which doesn’t really translate into the economic win-win the O Administration is hoping for — not yet, at least.
“We see more people wanting Energy Star-related alliances, sure,” says Paul Kinzer, a sales representative at Bonnycastle Appliance & TV. “Most want to know about the rebates. The thing is, the government hasn’t really said how much they can actually claim yet.”
Kinzer adds that, while it’s great that the government has allocated all so much money for rebates, it hasn’t translated into a sales-boon because “until they come out and say you can replace an old appliance with a new energy efficient one and claim, for example, 10-percent … it’s all up in the air. Nobody knows yet.”
Neil, a sales rep. from Charlie Wilson’s Dixie Appliance, more or less agrees.
“Most customers are aware of the refund,” he says, “and even though our business has been pretty good this year … I wouldn’t go so far to say the stimulus is a result of that. People have been asking, yeah, but not everybody’s buying [Energy Star-rated] appliances.”
LEO fielded a call to the Kentucky Department of Energy’s Energy Star division to ask them neat questions, but nobody answered, leaving us all wondering what number Joe Biden will actually pull out of his Amtrak-softened ass.