Heat pumps, which use electricity rather than directly burning fossil fuel – are a key piece of Massachusetts’ goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But the state has hit only 1% of its installation target, because the process of buying and installing them is “definitely not a cookie cutter.”
“I would say that the biggest problem right now is that it is very hard to get a reasonable sense of cost,” said Dennis Doughty of Brookline. “You go to a contractor, and you don’t have any intuition about the cost of a heat pump. Most adults have some sense for how much, for example, a refrigerator or car costs. But nobody has any idea how much a heat pump at a certain level of BTU costs.”
“It’s definitely not a cookie cutter,” he said, adding he’s heard price quotes ranging from $57,000 to $97,000. “You go to the car dealership and want a Toyota Camry, and you know what you’re going to get. But it feels like it’s really not that way for the heat pumps right: there are a lot of choices involved.”
As part of the climate plan, Massachusetts set a goal of having 2.8 millionhomes install heat pumps by 2050. Currently, only 29,721 homes have installed them, representing 1% of the target. Although state programs subsidize the cost of heat pumps, adoption has been gradual.
Despite rebate, cost remains financial concern
Mass Save, the partnership of utility providers, offers a consumer rebate of up to $10,000 for the installation of a heat pump. Despite the rebate, the cost still presents a financial concern to many in the commonwealth.
“What we’re seeing is that usually the quotes for installation are going to be the actual amount plus $10,000 per unit, because the installers know there is $10,000 of help,” said Doug Quattrochi, executive director of Mass Landlords, adding landlords are concerned about the lack of standardization for heat pumps, repair costs, and the size of electrical service needed to maintain them.
Loie Hayes, the energy efficiency coordinator at the nonprofit Green Energy Consumers, acknowledged “there are so many factors” in ensuring that a heat pump is appropriately designed and installed.
“There is a lot of complex information,” Hayes said. “People have to understand what fuel they’re currently using, what is the cost of that fuel relative to electric heat, what’s their distribution system, how does the heat get from wherever it’s being created throughout the house –– is it a furnace or a boiler, because those are very different things –– do they currently have central air conditioning or, do they have any air conditioning, how big is their building, where do they live in the state, and what their income level is.”
Hayes also criticized the price of gas as being “artificially low,” because of price externalities, which represent the difference between private costs and the costs to society as a whole.
“All the climate effects and the other pollution effects from gas have been externalized from the price,” Hayes explained.
Influence by fossil fuel industry alleged
one;white-space:normal;widows:auto;word-spacing:0px;" data-reader-unique-id="36"> Regulatory capture, in which a regulated industry exerts a strong influence over the government tasked with regulating that entity or industry, is another issue in this context. According to Hayes, the state Department of Public Utilities, the agency which sets rates, has “ties” to the fossil fuel industry.
“The people who were in charge of DPU (under former Gov. Charlie Baker) were appointed by people who had ties to the fossil fuel industry, so they weren’t interested in seeing a rate change that would support electrification.” said Hayes.
Hayes is hopeful that Gov. Maura Healey’s appointments are “more likely to be sensitive to this issue” which might “create a better environment for this cost gap to be resolved.”
The higher electric rates present an additional financial constraint on people who wish to convert.
'Unpleasant' surprise on electric bills could occur
Customers who are replacing natural gas and moving to a heat pump might be “unpleasantly surprised with their electric bills,” said Chris Porter, director of customer energy management at National Grid, which provides both electricity and natural gas to Massachusetts consumers.
“If we are going to drive customer adoption of this technology at the rates necessary to achieve the commonwealth’s decarbonization goals we’re going to have to close that gap,” Porter said.
A report by the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience, among others, has been critical of “the current statutory framework,” which is “administered by electric and gas utilities,” suggesting changes may be needed to framework.
“[T]he Mass Save program is failing to take the steps necessary to achieve the transformative levels of building decarbonization required,” the report stated.
Could Mass Save do more?Climate Chief calls for restructuring of Mass Save, looks to Vermont, Maine for answers
In contrast, Efficiency Vermont operates independently of utilities.
V “We don’t get paid more if you use more energy,” said Matthew Smith, public relations manager at Efficiency Vermont.
In freezing weather is backup heat source needed?
An additional constraint to the adoption of heat pumps is that they historicallydid not properly function in freezing temperatures.
Wendy Stahl, a Brookline resident, described how a home inspector first introduced her to a heat pump in 2019.
“It’s this new thing and it’s better for the environment, but it might cause some problems,” the home inspector told her.
Stahl said she has “heard anecdotes from friends who say that their contractor said that they’re going to need to keep their existing gas system as a backup for when it gets really cold. And I tell them it’s not true: I took my gas system out and my home is just fine without a backup.”
Hayes, from Green Energy Consumers, said “the capacity of heat pumps to provide 100% of our heating needs has been proven.” She faulted HVAC technicians for also spreading skepticism about heat pumps to potential consumers.
“There’s a problem when the average person who has been using oil or gas or propane for years calls their HVAC technician, and they say I want to switch to heat pumps,” Hayes said. “The HVAC technician usually tells them they can’t use heat pumps for 100% of their heating needs. And that’s because those technicians have been trained on air conditioning equipment and they haven’t been trained yet on the cold climate heat pumps. So, they’re giving out inaccurate information because they’re just describing their own capabilities, not what the technology is capable of.”
A network of trained heat pump installers
Mass Save has tried to address that by hosting the Mass Save Heat Pump Installer Network for participating installers. Starting this year, the consumer rebate is conditioned on costumers hiring an installer from this network.
Porter, from National Grid, explained the rationale.
“We feel that it’s absolutely essential that the customers who are adopting the technology now have a good experience with that technology and it’s installed by a trained contractor who has the necessary information to design and install the network appropriately.
“So, we’ve closed the network for now to increase the likelihood that these early adopting customers have a good experience and then go tell their neighbors and their in-laws and everyone else. The truth is that the technology when appropriately designed and installed works perfectly well in the Massachusetts climate,” Porter said.
A dependence on the state's electric grid
Regardless of how heat pumps perform, their success might ultimately depend on the state’s electric grid.
The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the CEO of North American Electric Reliability Corporation recently released a joint statement expressing “serious concerns” about the “reliability and affordability of the region’s [New England] energy supplies.” Without “emergency efforts,” the statement stated, energy suppliers in the region “potentially faced system collapse.”
“[Electrification] may sound easy, but it is a massive undertaking rife with challenges ... [and] will require an upfront investment of billions of dollars in preparing and expanding the power grid to accommodate this increased demand for electricity,” according to environmental lawyer Michael Giamio.
In addition to encouraging the widespread adoption of heat pumps, the Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050 also set targets for light-duty vehicles, electric vehicles, land conservation, and urban tree cover to ensure achievement of Massachusetts’s net zero policy.
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