Heat Pump Leadership Goes Local
How local initiatives can lead the charge in home electrification
Heat pumps have been having a moment. Super-charged by large incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, heat pumps have outsold furnaces for the past two years. And that is having a significant impact — swapping out dirty fossil fuel systems for highly-efficient heat pumps can remove over 95 percent of the fossil fuels burned in homes.
To ensure this momentum continues going forward, local governments and their community partners can lead the charge by developing Electrify programs. These programs typically include heat pump incentives and financing, qualified contractors, and residential education and technical support.
To help local governments develop these programs, RMI developed A Five Step Guide to Develop a Local Home Electrification Program. This guide draws on insights from 12 RMI-supported Electrify programs that engaged over 56,000 residents, mobilized more than 100 home contractors, and are projected to result in over 3,000 heat pump installations. Below, we summarize the five key steps with program examples:
- Develop the program team and goals
- Support local contractor engagement
- Design incentive offerings
- Develop community education and outreach
- Launch and manage the program
1. Develop the program team and goals
Electrify programs are more likely to succeed when they are a partnership between a local government, home contractors, and community-based organizations (CBOs). In our experience, it's that last category that distinguishes good and great programs by ensuring marginalized resident voices are integrated into program design.
For example, Grand Rapids, Michigan, partnered with the Urban Core Collective and Tacoma, Washington, partnered with the Black Collective of Tacoma, both BIPOC-focused organizations, to center equity in their programs.
Housing or construction-focused CBOs can also provide valuable technical expertise and contractor relationships. For example, programs in Longmont, Colorado; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Olympia, Washington, all partnered with Habitat for Humanity to assist with contractor engagement and community education.
These partners and the local government form the core team that sets measurable goals based on community priorities. For example, most programs focused on heat pump upgrades in homes that use delivered fuel or electric resistance for heating where bill savings are greatest.
2. Support local contractor engagement
Contractors play a key role in influencing consumers, so their participation is critical. Understanding the local contractor landscape and their motivations, and providing a qualified contractor list, are key steps to support their engagement. For most programs, building the contractor list and application process was the most time intensive but also most impactful step.
Fortunately, many state and utility rebate programs may already have qualified contractor lists to leverage. For example, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Longmont leveraged an existing qualified contractor list while Cincinnati did not have an available list so created their own.
Qualified contractors install a heat pump in King County, Washington. Photo credit: King County Government
3. Design incentive offerings
Electrify programs aim to make heat pumps more affordable by leveraging existing incentives or creating new ones. The incentive structure — whether reducing the up-front cost or offering better financing —typically focused on lower-income residents.
For example, Electrify programs in the Twin Cities in Minnesota; Bozeman and Missoula, Montana; and Eagle County, Colorado, offered income-qualified incentives to reduce up-front costs. Electrify programs in Olympia and King County in Washington State went even further, covering the entire up-front cost for low-income households.
Other programs provided low-interest and accessible financing. For example, Montgomery County partnered with the Montgomery County Green Bank to provide below-market-rate heat pump loans. Tacoma offered forgivable loans and grant-loan combinations for heat pumps and related repairs for landlords serving low-income renters.
If a municipality lacks funding for incentives, fear not; they can still tap into existing programs, especially in states implementing the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate program. And simply offering a qualified contractor list helps residents find the best value project.
Residents enjoy their new heat pump in Silverthorne, Colorado after leveraging local rebates. Photo credit: High County Conservation Center
4. Develop community education and outreach
Just like the old saying, “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound?” — an Electrify program launched without community outreach is unlikely to make an impact. Successful Electrify program outreach focuses on three important elements: effective messages, trusted messengers, and impactful outreach methods.
Most programs worked with their CBO partner to highlight the health and economic benefits of heat pumps. Some also involved elected officials and translated materials for broader reach. For example, Longmont invited their mayor to speak at their launch event to draw media attention, and King County worked with Spark Northwest and ECOSS to translate materials into eight local languages.
Electrify programs also employed a variety of community outreach methods. Ann Arbor, Olympia, and Twin Cities hosted in-person and virtual community workshops and events. Missoula sent mailers to residents and hosted heat pump tours. And a coalition in Colorado mountain communities launched digital and radio campaigns to promote their program.
Missoula’s inaugural Electrify Homes Tour in April 2023. Photo credit: Missoula County Government.
5. Launch and manage the program
Once everything is in place, the program is launched and direct resident assistance begins. Most programs offered two types of direct support: heat pump ambassadors and technical advisors. For example, Cincinnati trained 24 volunteers as heat pump ambassadors, who made over 3,500 contacts through email, social media, and in-person events. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor, Twin Cities, and Montgomery County employed technical advisors to address residents' specific queries throughout the home electrification process.
If your local government is ready to launch an Electrify program, we encourage you to explore A Five Step Guide to Develop a Local Home Electrification Program to accelerate heat pump adoption in your community.
