Maine’s Reliance on Heating Oil is Sharply Declining

October 12, 2024

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Well, when I took office in 2019, Maine was one of the most heating oil dependent states in the country. We were sending $4 to $5 billion a year out of pocket and into the pockets of big out-of-state oil and gas companies. I promised to change that, in part by helping Maine people transition to heat pumps instead of costly, inefficient, and harmful heating oil.

In 2019, with the support of the Legislature, I signed a bill that set a goal of installing 100,000 heat pumps by 2025. Well, in 2023, we met that goal two years early, and we became a nationwide leader in the installation of heat pumps. That is thanks to you, the Maine people who recognize the value of these products. And that's thanks to all the hardworking installers across the state, who know that distributing and installing heat pumps does provide a good living with good benefits.

I'm proud to see that our efforts are paying off, with our reliance on heating oil continuing to decline across Maine as more and more homes than ever are adopting heat pumps for affordable heating and cooling.

In fact, I'm proud to say that between 2022 and 2023, Maine's reliance on heating oil declined by more than 6%. That's the largest yearly drop since at least 2010. In fact, the share of Maine's homes using heating oil has sharply declined from 70% in 2010 to just over 50% in 2023.

Maine people know firsthand that oil and kerosene, for instance, are some of the most expensive energy sources for home heat. In 2022, oil reached a price of nearly $6 a gallon and kerosene went over $7 a gallon. Maine people who are making the switch to clean energy are saving money and helping our state cut greenhouse emissions at the same time.

As I mentioned earlier, the demand for heat pumps is also sparking a demand for installers and distributors and sellers, which is creating good paying jobs. Maine's clean energy economy and our clean energy workforce is now the fastest growing in New England, and it has grown more than three times faster than our overall economy.

While Maine is highly dependent on fossil fuels, we'll continue to leverage unprecedented investments in clean energy from the Biden-Harris Administration to bring down energy costs and create good paying jobs for Maine people. This year alone, we've received and benefited from more than $115 million in new federal support for heat pump adoption, weatherization, and energy efficiency across Maine. For example, just last month, we announced a new rebate program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered here in Maine by the Efficiency Maine Trust, and that program will cover between 85% and 100% of the cost of installing heat pumps in low income manufactured homes and in new affordable multifamily housing units to benefit about 3,000 residences here in Maine.

High-performance heat pumps are affordable. They're efficient. They're easy to use. And they're accessible. They work well in cold climates like ours, and they're much more efficient than window air conditioning in the summer months when they're used for cooling. Well, to see if you're eligible for a rebate program or other energy efficiency measures, please visit Efficiency Maine's website at EfficiencyMaine.com.

I encourage all Maine people to look at energy efficiency measures, including heat pumps, and insulation, and weatherization, that could save you money on your heating costs and support our growing clean energy economy.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening, and stay warm.