Click on 'Green' Rewards From Your State

Maybe you've read about celebrities greening their homes with solar panels and wondered about doing the same. Or you've thought about trading in your leaky windows for something more efficient. Or you just bought an Energy Star-approved washer/dryer. You've heard your state has programs that give rewards for such green-friendly moves but don't know where to find out about them.

I uncovered a source. The Clean Energy States Alliance is a coalition of 18 states that have established programs and goals around building a market for clean, renewable energy.

The site is typically bureaucratic with virtually no information for consumers. But it has links to a number of resources that consumers can use.

For starters, it has links to its members' Web sites. Some, like the Alaska Energy Authority and the California Energy Commission, have little that's of direct interest to consumers. But other sites were very helpful.

I was able to link to Web sites for residents of New York, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Oregon that were easy to navigate and had good information for consumers.

I was able to easily click through to information about incentives for installing home solar voltaic systems in New York and a leasing program intended to make solar-powered electricity affordable in Connecticut. I found out how to get cash back for a new Energy Star-qualified water heater in Wisconsin. And links to a host of incentives for Oregonians for generating solar-powered hot water and electricity, and upgrading to more energy-efficient appliances, windows and other things.