Lincoln church goes solar with help from Inflation Reduction Act

Two years ago, leaders of the Horizons Community United Methodist Church began exploring ways to power their Lincoln building with clean energy. Thanks in part to a federal rebate made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy investments, they were able to install a 68-panel solar array and have significantly reduced electrical bills.

The Inflation Reduction Act was passed by the Democratic-led Congress, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a tie in the Senate, and was signed by President Joe Biden in 2022. The law lowered the cost of prescription drugs and insulin for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, provided a three-year extension of health insurance subsidies through the Affordable Care Act, and made historic investments in clean energy and climate change infrastructure. 

Every member of Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation voted against the Inflation Reduction Act. Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon called it a “reckless tax and spending package” at the time and predicted it would “make it more expensive for Americans to heat their homes and purchase basic goods.”

In the past, federal law made it difficult for religious institutions and other nonprofits to access solar energy tax credits. The 2022 law boosted incentives for individuals, businesses, and organizations like Horizons to weatherize properties, install heat pumps, buy electric vehicles, and use solar panels. 

One of the law’s incentives is a 30% direct pay tax credit for clean energy improvements, including solar paneling.

Derek Steinacher, Horizons’ family ministries director, told the Nebraska Independent that the church decided to go forward with its solar project after learning it would be eligible for the federal tax credit. “When we kind of got the green light on that, that was an important piece for us because that allowed us to do a much bigger project than we otherwise would have been able to do,” he said, noting that they installed the planets in December 2023 and are now waiting to receive the rebate. “We did a $72,000 project. We’re getting a $21,600 federal tax credit.”

The project received an additional credit from the local electric company and a grant from Nebraska Interfaith Power and Light, a nonprofit that works to help faith communities respond to climate change, bringing the church’s costs down to $36,605. The switch will save Horizons more than $3,000 a year on electrical bills, Steinacher said, so the cost of the project will be offset in about 12 years. “Pays for itself and clean energy all along the way,” he said.

Steinacher noted that beyond the financial advantages, switching to clean energy is important for the church’s mission to protect the planet. 

“I think it’s 100% part of our calling to be good stewards of the Earth and take good care of it in every way we can,” Steinacher said. “And climate change can disproportionately affect the poor. So that’s another important piece of it is if we can have an impact, that impacts the whole world. So our hope is that other churches would do this and that that impact will be bigger by us either modeling this for other churches or modeling this for homeowners or other businesses in our area.”

Ken Winston, executive director of Nebraska Interfaith Power and Light, said his group had been spreading the word to other congregations across the state and is seeing increased interest with the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives.

In addition to the 30% direct pay tax credits, he noted the law includes another 10% available for buildings in low-income areas, and a further 10% Buy American rebate. With some local utilities offering other funding, it can add up to big savings. “If you tack all the incentives together, sometimes half or more of the cost of the installation can be paid for through the various incentives,” Winston said.