Expanding Use of Heat Pumps Across Maine

August 23, 2024

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

You know, when I took office, Maine was one of the most heating oil dependent states in the country. We were sending billions of dollars a year out of our pockets and into the pockets of big oil and gas companies out of state.

I pledged to change that, in part by helping Maine people transition to heat pumps instead of costly, inefficient, and environmentally harmful heating oil. High-performance heat pumps are affordable, efficient, easy to use, and accessible. They do work well in cold climates, and they are much more efficient than window air conditioning in the summer when used for cooling.

In 2019, with the support of the legislature, I signed a bill that set a goal of installing 100,000 heat pumps by 2025. In 2023, we achieved that goal - two years early - and we became a nationwide leader in the installation of heat pumps.

Expanding the use of high-efficiency heat pumps also sparked a demand for heat pump installers and distributors and sellers - a step towards achieving my goal of more than doubling Maine's clean energy and energy efficiency jobs by 2030. We're doing that.

It was clear the transition to heat pumps was creating good paying jobs, curbing our reliance on expensive fossil fuels, and cutting costs for Maine families. So to build on our progress, I set an ambitious new target of installing another 175,000 heat pumps in Maine by 2027, bringing the number of heat pumps installed in Maine homes, businesses and public buildings during my time in office to 275,000.

On July 22nd, I was pleased to announce that Maine is expected to receive significant federal funding to help us reach that new goal. Five Northeast states - Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island - have been selected for a federal grant of a total of $450 million through the United States Environmental Protection Agency, funded through the Biden-Harris Administration's Inflation Reduction Act.

Of that $450 million, Maine is expected to receive between $45 million and $72 million, which will support the installation of highly efficient heat pumps for home heating and cooling and heat pump hot water heaters. These funds, which will be awarded to my Energy Office and administered by Efficiency Maine will continue our momentum and make sure that folks across Maine, particularly those in rural Maine, can stay comfortable and safe in their homes, and save money in the process.

This is in addition to $10 million we received earlier this year to install heat pumps in mobile homes across the state of Maine. We want to help people across the state to save money and become efficient.

Folks like Paul Nadeau of Van Buren, Maine. Paul used to pay as much as $4 a gallon to heat his 1,000 square foot home with 80 to 90 gallons of oil a month. When he switched to heat pumps, he used more electricity, but he said the switch still "more than balances out and saves me money."

I want to thank the Biden-Harris Administration for this funding and for its support of our work to expand the use of heat pumps to lower energy costs, strengthen our economy, and protect our environment.

This is Governor Janet Mills. And thank you for listening.