Where the Candidates Stand: Kathy Castor on Climate & Energy

Kathy Castor, the Democratic incumbent running for Florida's Congressional District 14, has a long record on energy policy that touches on programs homeowners care about. As the top Democrat on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, she has pushed for home energy efficiency and clean energy, including sponsoring the American Energy Efficiency Act and voting against efforts to roll back appliance efficiency standards and repeal the High Efficiency Electric Appliance Rebate Program (HEAR), a federal program that helps cover the cost of efficient appliances and electrification upgrades. She's also pressed Florida's governor over getting state residents access to U.S. Department of Energy home energy rebate programs meant to lower household energy costs.

Castor was present when President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the law behind many current home energy rebates and tax credits. She has sponsored bills aimed at lowering energy bills, including the LOWER Energy Bills Act and the Energy Bills Relief Act, and has opposed offshore oil and gas drilling near Florida's coast.

More recently, she's taken on the cost side of data centers and their strain on the power grid. She co-introduced the SHIELD Act and the Ratepayer Protection Act, both aimed at making large electricity users like data centers pay for the grid upgrades they require, rather than passing those costs to regular utility customers. The Ratepayer Protection Act passed the House in September 2026. For Tampa-area homeowners, these fights over rebate access and who pays for grid costs could directly affect utility bills and the availability of help paying for home upgrades.