Rebates for energy-efficient appliances
Reporter Alisa Roth talks with Steve Chiotakis about a new government program that will give rebates to consumers who buy new, more energy-efficient appliances.
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Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at investment management firm Harbor Advisory, talks with Bill Radke about whether the government's new rebate program for appliances is needed.
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Steve Chiotakis: We're gonna hear in the next few days about Uncle Sam's plans to phase out the Cash for Clunkers program. But it doesn't mean government rebates are going away. If you're going appliance shopping, you might want to hold out until the fall. Marketplace's Alisa Roth is here to tell us about the government's latest economy-stimulating rebate program. She joins us from our New York bureau. Good morning Alisa.
Alisa Roth: Good morning.
Chiotakis: So tell us a little about this plan.
Roth: Well when Congress approved the stimulus package this year, it included $300 million to be used as rebates to get consumers to buy new, more energy-efficient appliances. This is something the appliances industry has been pushing for, for a couple of years now, but it's only this last round Congress approved it.
Chiotakis: So I trade in my old dishwasher and get some money back? How does this work?
Roth: Well it's only one place where the plan is actually different from the Cash for Clunkers. You don't have to turn in your old dishwasher or washing machine or whatever to get the money. You just buy a new appliance with an Energy Star rating -- so that means they meet the EPA and the Energy Department's highest rating standards -- and then you can get as much as $200 back.
Chiotakis: So is this an environmental program, Alisa? Or is this an economic one?
Roth: Well it's both, just like Cash for Clunkers. So one part is getting people to upgrade to more energy-efficient machines. And the other is to stimulate the economy by encouraging people to buy expensive stuff.
Chiotakis: And I guess the biggest question folks want to know: When does it start?
Roth: No official date yet, but probably sometime in the late fall.
Chiotakis: All right, Marketplace's Alisa Roth joining us from New York. Alisa, thanks.
Roth: You're welcome.
Comments
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From HI, 08/25/2009
"
Energy Star rating -- so that means they meet the EPA and the Energy Department's highest rating standards -- and then you can get as much as $200
"
Energy Star of the East
What congressional personnel is pushing now? They selling more foreign things to us? What is American Content of these things?
Lucy
!
You got some 'splainin' to do
!
From us, CA, 08/21/2009
The program requires the scrapping of your eligible trade-in vehicle, and that the dealer disclose to you an estimate of the scrap value of your trade-in. The scrap value, however minimal, will be in addition to the rebate, and not in place of the rebate.
Henry
Blogger
www.cashforclunkersfacts.info
http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.info
08/20/2009
here it is
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