Press Releases

LOWELL, MA — Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), Governor Maura Healey, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll celebrated the awarding of $450 million in federal funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s competitive portion of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, a $4.6 billion program created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Massachusetts was selected as part of a five-state coalition led by Connecticut that proposed a regional heat pump market transformation program called the New England Heat Pump Accelerator (Accelerator). 

“Heat pumps are a critical tool in the fight to make it more affordable for Massachusetts families to keep their houses warm during the winter and cool during the summer. This significant federal investment, made possible by President Biden and Vice President Harris’s Inflation Reduction Act, will lower utility bills here in the Commonwealth and across New England while reducing our dependence on expensive and volatile fossil fuels,” said Congresswoman Trahan. 

The Accelerator’s goal is for heat pumps to make up at least 65 percent of residential heating, cooling and water heating sales by 2030 and to achieve long-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions for the region. The coalition includes the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources. Massachusetts expects to receive approximately $100 million from the award directly. 

“Through the Accelerator, we'll be able to deliver affordable and cutting-edge heating and cooling technologies to families and businesses across New England,” said Governor Healey. “Our administration is proud of the bipartisan collaboration with our partner states that is delivering $450 million at this critical juncture in our response to climate change. We believe that climate change is our greatest threat and greatest opportunity – with the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, this is an opportunity to lower costs, increase comfort, and drive down emissions.”

“By working together, we get more done. This award is a tremendous win for Team Massachusetts,” said Lieutenant Governor Driscoll. “Heat pumps are a key technology for reducing emissions, and this award will help us expedite their availability statewide while lowering costs for consumers. Thank you to our federal partners in the Biden-Harris administration for your continued support of a green energy future for Massachusetts."

The award, the only one made in EPA Region 1 (New England) and the second-largest sum nationwide, will allow the five-state coalition to rapidly scale adoption of heat pump technologies by filling gaps in funding and program coverage. The Accelerator will create the first program of its kind to work with manufacturers, distributors, and contractors to increase the availability of heat pumps, ensure quality installation, and reduce costs for residents, with the goal of making heat pumps account for at least 65 percent of residential-scale heating, air conditioning, and water heating sales by 2030 and 90 percent by 2040. The Accelerator is designed to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions long after its funding ends by overcoming barriers to residential building electrification and establishing heat pumps as standard practice for HVAC and water heating.

"Getting heat pumps in homes across New England unlocks enormous benefits for our residents,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “For folks who have struggled to afford furnaces and air conditioning in the past, they’ll be able to more easily get a heat pump that heats and cools their homes efficiently as summers get hotter and winters become more extreme. I’m also proud to see our efforts to build relationships with our neighbor states result in such a significant award – the only award in New England and the second largest in the country.”

This innovative approach in New England will be the first regional program of its kind in the nation and will provide funding for states and communities to reach households with the highest energy burdens by removing barriers typically faced by underserved communities. The Accelerator is designed to address these barriers by providing incentive adders in disadvantaged communities and by funding state-based projects and community-based Quick Start Grant projects that support heat pump adoption for low- and moderate-income households and disadvantaged communities. In alignment with EPA’s Justice40 goals, at least 40 percent of Accelerator funding will be directed to low- and moderate-income households and underserved communities. The Accelerator underscores the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s commitment to a cleaner, decarbonized buildings sector, which accounts for more than a third of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The collaboration with neighboring states will enable greater impact in achieving emissions reductions at scale.  

The Accelerator uniquely combines three program pillars to activate the supply chain: a Market Hub, Innovation Hub, and Resource Hub. Together these three pillars work to spur heat pump adoption, scale solutions to address specific barriers facing low- and moderate-income households and underserved communities when adopting heat pumps, and share data and educational resources to drive rapid, aligned progress across the New England region.

Trahan supported passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in August 2022. The legislation is the single largest federal climate investment in history with significant funding to support projects that reduce carbon emissions, clean up air pollution, and create a more livable planet. The Inflation Reduction Act is part of President Biden and Vice President Harris’s Investing in America agenda, which has delivered $8.5 billion in funding to support public infrastructure and clean energy investments across Massachusetts. 

###