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A group of 25 state and territory governors organized as the U.S. Climate Alliance set a goal Thursday together with the Biden administration to quadruple the number of lower-emission heat pumps in U.S. homes by 2030.
With the target, the number of cleaner-energy electric heat pumps, which replace furnaces and air conditioners as a single unit, is set to rise to 20 million from 4.7 million as soon as the end of the decade. The pledge aims to ensure that at least 40% of the benefits of these HVAC swaps flow to disadvantaged communities.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a member of the group, called heat pumps “almost a miraculous solution” to three problems Americans face: “heating in the winter, cooling in the summer and a reduction of carbon pollution.”
Heat pumps use little electricity, which means lower Earth-warming greenhouse-gas emissions, especially when the electricity they do use is also generated by cleaner means, including by the natural gas
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that replaced coal and, more recently, by wind, solar, hydrogen and nuclear power. But critics note that heat pumps draw from the same electrical grid that currently powers homes and businesses, which may stress some grids that are already struggling to keep up with the energy transition. And, they say, heat pumps are only as green as the electricity they use, so action by homeowners alone is not enough.
Still, the transition has been a key pursuit as more Americans upgrade their appliances and HVAC systems, either with cost savings in mind or because they want to reduce their carbon impact, or both. Buildings account for more than 30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and have become a target of efforts to slow the global warming that is kicking up more frequent severe storms and dangerously warming the oceans.
The states and territories whose mostly Democratic governors are members of the alliance represent approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the country’s population.
In addition to promoting tax refunds and other rebate programs, for example, Pennsylvania, New York, Oregon and five other states will look into developing a standard for how nonpolluting a heater should be, which could push more homeowners into action.
The heat-pump pledge is a collection of state initiatives that, on top of federal programs, aim to cut U.S.-generated emissions to zero by 2050. Net-zero, as this goal is known, will be achieved by cutting fossil-fuel demand as well as by offsetting emissions, including via carbon capture and storage and by buying the carbon allowances that less-polluting businesses don’t need.
Heat pumps work by extracting heat from outdoor air or underground sources, known as geothermal energy, and pumping it indoors — instead of, for instance, heating up a less efficient coil. The opposite is true for cooling, with the heat pumps pulling heat from indoors to the outside, or in the case of large buildings especially, storing that extracted heat underground.
Because they help address climate change, heat pumps are incentivized under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, which provides a tax credit toward their purchase or installation. Specifically, this credit is good for up to 30% of the total cost of what’s paid for a heat pump, including the cost of labor, up to $2,000. It is available through the end of 2032. Heat pump water heaters can also qualify. Income considerations do apply.
Consumers can use this rebate finder on the EnergyStar website to learn more about state programs and how they might fit with the federal incentives.
Other states and utilities offer additional tax credits to layer on top of the IRA incentive, and the coalition of state leaders is pledging to make more available.
Heat pumps may cost between $4,000 to $8,000 for installation, with an average cost of $5,500, according to the American Society of Home Inspectors. Depending on the type of heat pump, you could pay $2,500 to $10,000 for the unit.
Although heat pumps have a high up-front cost, they’re highly energy efficient and typically produce three times as much heat as the energy they use, which can mean saving on energy bills over the unit’s lifetime.
“People have been struggling with home heating costs and high energy costs in Maine, especially the last couple of years, because we’ve been so over-reliant on global fossil-fuel-energy markets,” said Maine Gov. Janet Mills. “I think people in Maine are interested in anything that will save them money, make their homes and businesses more efficient and more comfortable financially.”
Ali Zaidi, the White House national climate adviser, has said that rising demand for heat pumps will spur domestic manufacturing of the units.
That’s important, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “We want to ensure that we’re not held captive to foreign supply-chain issues. … We want manufacturers here in the U.S. to get ready for high demand that we anticipate will follow this announcement,” she said.
Some industry watchers have said that in some parts of the country, contractors and HVAC installers need more training, although there’s been a rise in interest for these relatively high-paying jobs.
There are some limitations. Heat pumps are not highly efficient in extremely cold regions, so it’s best for homeowners to research efficiency projections and electricity sources before they jump in.
The governors of Washington, New York and California formed the U.S. Climate Alliance in 2017 after the U.S., under then-President Donald Trump, pulled out of the Paris Agreement targeting overall global warming. President Joe Biden has since returned the U.S. to the Paris pact.
Alliance governors have pledged to collectively reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 26% by 2025 and at least 50% by 2030, compared with 2005 emission levels, they said in a release.
The group also wants to maximize climate benefits of new federal funding and programs under the IRA and a separate piece of legislation, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including by identifying opportunities to streamline incentives and educate consumers.
And they want to direct some of the funding to make sure older buildings get the attention they need via efficient electric retrofits that promote healthy homes and businesses, particularly for low-income families that bear disproportionate cost and energy burdens.
Individual states, at a press conference Thursday, offered their own plans or gave updates on existing programs in the push to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner options. For instance, five states — California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York and Washington — will work to phase out fossil-fuel heating and cooling in all new construction by 2027.
