Nancy Myers is pretty sure that her frequent complaining about her antique store’s electric bill is what set her down a path to dramatically reduce it. The store in rural Florida, known as Grumbles House Antiques and Garden Shop, was tucked inside a home built in 1908. It had five fireplaces, a handful of west-facing windows, and an electric bill that would sometimes creep towards $1,200 a month.

Her son, she said, was tired of hearing her complain, so he researched alternatives. He realized solar panels would help bring down those exorbitant electricity expenses. Myers was skeptical.

“I said, ‘That’s really expensive. I can’t afford that,’” she remembers telling her son. 

But, a $25,000 Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant about eights years ago made the investment accessible, Myers said. REAP grants have been around for some time, but they were most recently funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. 

With the help of a grant writer, the research from her son, and the expertise of a local solar installer, Myers and her husband were able to install 121 solar panels to offset electricity costs. 

“It relieves that big, ugly electric bill,” Myers said. 

Myers and her husband contributed towards the cost of the installation, but the investment is worth the long-term savings. The remaining balance was covered by the grant, and the project gave them an opportunity to take advantage of tax incentives, which saved them even more money.

Now, their electric bills are much more manageable, even when they need to run space heaters in their garden shop during colder months, or when employees use a little air conditioner to cool off in hotter months. With a lower bill, it’s easier for Myers and her staff to use that same air conditioner to create a breeze for their wind chimes, in an effort to inspire sales. 

“I’ve been really happy with them,” Myers said, of the solar panels. 

Saving several hundreds of dollars on a monthly basis has allowed the store owners to reinvest in their business, which is located in the quaint city of Dunnellon, home to fewer than 2,000 people. Myers said they used to “sweat out” the summers, literally and figuratively, to manage expenses and keep overhead low. 

Since using the REAP grant to install those solar panels, Myers and her husband have been able to increase their inventory, raise wages for employees, and offer a modest profit-sharing bonus to their team. 

“It’s not much because we’re a small mom and pop, but we’re tickled that we’re able to do that, and they’re tickled,” Myers said. 

They’ve also been able to make property improvements that include creating a brick walkway that improves accessibility for the garden shop, which may include visits from ladies who visit a neighboring cafe for high tea. 

Myers said she had been concerned that the women visiting for tea or patronizing the garden shop might trip and hurt themselves because of the condition of the walkway. Grumbles House, afterall, acts as a community hub of sorts. It hosts events throughout the year and features work from local artisans. 

“It’s so much prettier now. It just looks really nice. It’s a really therapeutic place. People tell us that all the time. It’s turned into a neat place that people seem to love,” Myers said. “We’ve made a fair amount of improvements. The REAP grant really helped us move forward. Now, we can pay our bills and not have to worry about it and it’s wonderful.”

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by the 117th Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, is a piece of federal legislation that aims to reduce inflation by lowering the cost of prescription medications, investing in domestic energy production, and promoting clean energy, among other objectives.