Winters in New England can be very cold. Five states in the region launched an effort this week to spend $450 million to heat more homes in the often cold region using energy-efficient, low-emission heat pumps instead of burning fossil fuels.
“This is a big deal,” said Kathy Dykes, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “It’s unprecedented to see five states come together on a transformational approach to introducing more affordable clean heat options.”
The New England Heat Pump Accelerator is a collaboration between Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The initiative is funded by the federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, which was created under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The launch of the accelerator marks a rare milestone for the Biden-era climate initiative amid the Trump administration's relentless push to roll back federal clean energy and environmental programs.
The goal: install more heat pumps in more homes through a combination of financial incentives, educational programs and workforce development.
New England is a rich target for such efforts because of its current dependence on fossil fuel-based heating. Natural gas and propane are widely used, and heating oil remains widespread throughout the region; More than half of Maine's homes are heated by oil, and all other states in the coalition have oil prices much higher than the national average. The rise of oil in particular means there are plenty of opportunities to increase the adoption of heat pumps, reduce emissions and lower residents' energy bills.
At the same time, heat pumps have faced headwinds in the region, including initial equipment costs, high electricity prices in New England and misconceptions about heat pumps' ability to operate in cold weather.
“There is no full understanding that these low-temperature heat pumps can handle our winters and do so at a cost that is lower than many of our supplied fuels,” said Joseph DeNicola, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
To some extent the dynamics are changing. Maine has made remarkable progress reaching your goal 100,000 new heat pump installations in 2023, two years ahead of the original target. Massachusetts is on track to meet its 2025 goal, but to reach the 2030 goal, adoption rates must increase.
The accelerator aims to accelerate adoption by supporting the installation of approximately 580,000 residential heat pumps, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.5 million metric tons by 2030, the equivalent of eliminating more than 540,000 gas-powered passenger vehicles.
The initiative is divided into three program areas, or “hubs,” as planners called them during a webinar launching the accelerator this week.
Most of the money, about $270 million, will go to the “market center.” Distributors will receive benefits for selling heat pumps. They will keep a small percentage of the money for themselves and pass on most of the savings to the contractors who buy the equipment. Contractors, in turn, will pass on the lower price to clients. In addition to lowering upfront costs for consumers, this approach is designed to change the market by encouraging distributors to keep equipment in stock, making it easier for contractors and their customers to choose.
These mid-market incentives are expected to reduce the cost of cold climate air source heat pumps by $500 to $700 per unit and heat pump water heaters by $200 to $300 per unit. When contractors purchase equipment, the benefit will be applied automatically—no additional paperwork or claims will be required.
“It should be very easy for contractors to access this funding,” said Ellen Pfeiffer, a senior manager at Energy Solutions, a clean energy consulting firm that is helping implement the program. “Everything should be almost seamless.”
Consumers will also remain eligible for any incentives available through government efficiency programs, such as rebates from Mass Save or Efficiency Maine, but will likely not be able to combine acceleration benefits with federal incentives, such as home efficiency rebate programs and electrification and appliance rebate programs.
Program planners expect to finalize incentive levels by the end of the year, recruit and train distributors in the early months of 2026, and have the first participating products available in February 2026, said New England Heat Pump Accelerator program manager Jennifer Gottlieb Elajari.
The second direction of the program is an innovation hub. Each state will receive $14.5 million to fund one or two pilot programs testing new ways to overcome barriers to heat pump adoption in low- and moderate-income households and low-income communities. One state could, for example, create a library of window-mounted air source heat pumps, allowing those whose oil heating keeps failing to look for replacement options rather than simply installing new oil equipment.
The innovation center will also include staff development and training. Organizers are talking to contractors and other partners to find out where there are gaps in heat pump training. They will develop a program in the first few months of 2026, scheduled to begin in April.
The goal will be not only to ensure that people with the necessary skills are available to install the systems, but also to lay the groundwork for faster implementation by disseminating knowledge of the capabilities of the technology and the incentives available.
The third core area of the accelerator is a resource center for aggregating information for contractors, distributors, program implementers and other stakeholders. In general, the organizers hope to put all three hubs into operation in the spring of 2026.
Accelerator planners expect the programs to encourage adoption, even in the form of a federal tax credit of up to $2,000 for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. discontinued at the end of the year, leaving it to states to lead the clean energy push.
“At the state level, this is one example of how we are helping to make progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but with a solution that can help people take control of their energy costs,” Dykes said. “That's really what we're focused on.”
