Credit: Bryn Pinzgauer via OpenverseNew Jersey and eight other states are ramping up efforts to electrify homes and other residential buildings.
The states have agreed to work together and make electric heat pumps account for 65% of all heating, cooling and water heating equipment by the end of the decade. By 2040, they hope to achieve 90% of sales in the nine states involving such equipment.
Residential buildings are one of the largest sources of climate emissions and other harmful air pollutants. In New Jersey, they are second only to the emissions from vehicles. Electric heat pumps are touted as a way of achieving zero-emission buildings and improving air quality.
The Murphy administration wants to electrify buildings by converting their heating and cooling systems to heat pumps, a step that will reduce global-warming emissions from natural gas, heating oil and other fossil fuels. But the Murphy proposal, which does not include mandates, has been slow to take form, although the Biden administration has allocated funds from 2021 laws to accelerate the transition.
Warm enough for winter?
Uncertainty about the costs and questions whether electric heat pumps warm homes enough in cold climates and subzero temperatures have spurred opposition to the shift in New Jersey and elsewhere. Yet the conversions are occurring across the nation.
In Maine, over 100,000 heat pumps have been installed. Heat pumps are now more common than oil heat in new homes, according to Efficiency Maine, an independent, quasi-state agency.
Heat pumps are up to three times as efficient as conventional heating systems, according to Emily Levin, a senior policy adviser at the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, a group that led negotiations for the agreement.
Pace to the pump
Among other things, the nine states will collaborate to collect market data, track progress and develop an action plan within a year to support widespread electrification of residential buildings. “It is setting an ambitious pace, but is achievable,’’ Levin said.
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In New Jersey, approximately 5% of homes are using heat pumps for heating and cooling, Blumenthal said. Across the nine states working together — California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island — heat pumps account for roughly one-quarter of the market, according to Levin.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is developing new incentives to convince homeowners to convert to heat pumps, which should be rolling out next year, Blumenthal added.
By 2030, Gov. Phil Murphy has established a goal of retrofitting 400,000 residential homes and 200,000 commercial spaces with zero-emission heating and cooling systems, a target spurring the BPU’s move to come up with incentives and how to allocate millions of dollars in federal funds.
In a press release announcing the nine-state initiative, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said the agreement will reduce the carbon footprint of buildings by spurring greater use of energy-efficient, nonpolluting heat pumps. “This effort will benefit our economy, create jobs and contribute to healthy air,’’ he said.
Who’s paying?
But Eric DeGesero, executive vice president of the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey and a harsh critic of the electrification target, questioned where the money to fund the conversion will come.
“How is Gov. Phil Murphy going to put this in place?’’ DeGesero asked. “What is the mechanism he’s going to use to reach that goal. The Legislature hasn’t given him the authority to electrify any building.’’
If a home is going to have the existing heating system removed and warmed by heat pumps alone, there needs to be tens of thousands of dollars to retrofit the home’s insulation. “What is that cost?’’
By scaling up the market, the costs of conversion will come down, Levin said. “There are a lot of resources. This is the direction we need to go,’’ she said. “There’s no question that this will be an expensive transition.’’
In the memorandum of understanding, the states agree to invest 40% of efficiency investments to low-income households.
