A recent NPR article shared the following news:
Massachusetts and four other New England states received a $450 million federal grant Monday to “supercharge” efforts to get residents to ditch natural gas or oil heating systems and install electric heat pumps.
To date, the five states have tried on their own to get residents to make the switch. But the grant will allow them to coordinate their efforts, using a new regional program: The New England Heat Pump Accelerator.
The program aims to do three things:
- Boost the local heat pump market by incentivizing heat pump manufacturers and distributors to increase inventory and lower prices
- Make it easier for low- and moderate-income households to install heat pumps
- Establish a central “resource hub” to share data and best practices around heat pump adoption, workforce training and other market metrics they’re tracking