Maryland Clean Heat Coalition Urges Policymakers to Prioritize Upgrading Homes on Delivered Fuels with Heat Pumps 

Launch of $72.5 million Heat Pump Rebate Program provides opportunity to deliver immediate economic relief for Maryland households facing massive heating cost spikes

 

BALTIMORE, MD — As Maryland residents who rely on heating oil and propane are expected to see winter heating bills spike as much as 31%, the Maryland Clean Heat Coalition today submitted comments urging the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) to use more than $72 million in recently approved funding as part of its Heat Pump Rebate Program to target low- and moderate-income households on delivered fuels and electric resistance. The General Assembly included this funding in its fiscal year 2027 budget.

Delivered fuels such as propane and heating oil, used by roughly 10% of Maryland households, are some of the most expensive ways to heat a home in Maryland today. Thanks to the ongoing war in Iran, federal price estimates reveal heating oil prices have increased 120% since January. Residents who rely on inefficient electric resistance heating are likewise exposed to mounting energy bills due to data center demand and requests by utilities to increase profit margins. Targeting low-income residents for heat pump upgrades, who disproportionately rely on these technologies for home heating, can deliver $350 million in energy cost savings per year by 2050, according to the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter and the Center for Progressive Reform. 

“Ahead of the heating season, thousands of low- and moderate-income households across Maryland are experiencing sticker shock as they purchase delivered fuels for the winter,” said Anne Havemann, Deputy Director at Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “These households are facing the worst of the energy affordability crisis, and Maryland must work quickly to help. That’s why we are urging policymakers to ensure that $72 million in funding passed by lawmakers this past legislative session is used to upgrade households on delivered fuels and electric resistance with efficient heat pumps.”

To maximize savings, Maryland must ensure quality installations and build the pool of experienced contractors across the state. In their recommendations, advocates stressed the importance of investing in workforce development programs and streamlined processes to ensure contractor participation in the program. That includes a statewide heat pump contractor network, similar to one in Maine, where verified contractors can be matched with Maryland residents and access training resources.

“Contractors will be on the front lines of implementing Maryland’s Heat Pump Rebate Program,” said Sean Mallonee, of SM Mechanical and President of Heating and Air Conditioning Contractors of Maryland.“To ensure they are supported, policymakers must partner with manufacturers and educational institutions to provide contractors with the required technical training. The state must also create streamlined processes that ease the barriers to entry and participation for contractors while also ensuring those contractors are legitimate to protect homeowners as well.  By creating a Heat Pump Rebate Program that supports licensed contractors, Maryland will not only accelerate the adoption of heat pumps but also create good-paying jobs in the process with consumer protection in place.”

The coalition urged MEA to structure the Heat Pump Rebate Program to align with the state’s forthcoming Clean Heat Rules, a set of complementary policies that would phase in zero-emission heating equipment in Maryland households to lower energy bills and invest in healthier air statewide. MEA should also coordinate with other state and utility programs, including EmPOWER Maryland, to braid resources and offer households incentives for wrap-around services that can deliver greater savings, including energy efficiency upgrades and weatherization.

“A whole-house approach to electrification has been proven to lower energy bills, improve indoor air quality, and enhance comfort,” said Ruth Ann Norton, president and CEO of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative. “That is why policies such as the Heat Pump Rebate Program must be designed to work in tandem with Maryland’s upcoming Clean Heat Rules and energy efficiency program, EmPOWER. By doing so, Maryland can comprehensively address safety, structure, and energy-inefficiency issues in a home, delivering major economic benefits and quality of life improvements for residents.”

Failing to upgrade residents on the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland with zero-emission equipment risks locking in rising energy bills and long-term pollution impacts of fossil fuel heating. Gas utilities are working to expand their networks in these regions despite having some of the highest rates in the entire state—nearly $1 per therm higher than other Maryland utilities. Households will not only lose out on greater savings achieved by heat pumps, but be saddled with the mounting costs of maintaining Maryland’s aging gas system. If Maryland fails to quickly upgrade households on delivered fuels with heat pumps, they could be locked into the polluting gas system for at least another 15 years.

“Switching Maryland households on delivered fuels to methane gas isn’t a viable solution, especially as gas prices rise,” said Bryan Dunning, senior policy analyst at Center for Progressive Reform. “Letting utilities expand the polluting gas system to more households risks hooking residents on a stranded asset. Instead, the focus should be on switching to efficient electric systems that will bear long-term energy and health savings to ratepayers.”

Additional statements from organizations can be found below:

“Nearly 42% of Maryland households reported struggling to pay their utility bill last year, indicating the extent of the state’s energy affordability crisis,” said Rev. Catherine Manhardt, climate equity team leader at the Maryland Just Power Alliance. “As families struggle to get by, there are steps that policymakers can take to provide immediate relief. That includes transitioning low- and moderate-income homes with inefficient electric resistance systems or delivered fuels to efficient electric heat pumps, which can provide thousands of dollars in savings.”

“Households relying on delivered fuels and inefficient electric resistance to heat their homes are set to face skyrocketing energy costs this winter,” said Tony Sirna, deputy policy director at Evergreen Action. “It’s why advocates are urging policymakers to design and quickly distribute $72 in funding that targets these energy-burdened households with heat pump upgrades that are proven to lower energy bills.”

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Spanberger Data Center Platform Takes Steps Forward, But Communities Still Need “Pause to Protect”

Platform represents major improvement upon status quo, but communities in crisis need immediate relief through pause on data center development

 

RICHMOND, VA — Governor Abigail Spanberger released today her “Data Center Accountability Framework,” which includes a combination of executive actions and policy endorsements to protect communities and the environment from data centers. Several of the endorsed policies take notable steps to address on-site pollution, rising energy bills associated with data center infrastructure and demand, and community impacts. However, the platform does not include a pause on data center development or a ban on on-site gas generation for primary power. Communities around the Commonwealth are calling for a moratorium on data center approvals until comprehensive policy guardrails are in place to protect communities and the environment, a platform called “Pause to Protect.”

Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), issued the following statement:

“We appreciate that the Governor’s platform takes several major steps forward, but also that communities facing data center development are in crisis right now. We need a pause on data center approvals until water-tight environmental and community protections are on the books and being enforced. Scientists are begging policymakers to take decisive action yesterday to stop runaway climate change, while the Trump Administration moves to allow limitless pollution. We must stop the madness and issue an immediate pause on approvals until these protections – and more – are fully implemented.”

CCAN is supportive of policy proposals to ensure that data centers pay for infrastructure they incentivize the incumbent utility to build, procure their own clean energy resources, ban Non-Disclosure Agreements, eliminate by-right development, and close regulatory loopholes that allow diesel generation to escape compliance with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. While the Governor’s platform suggests strong limits on behind-the-meter, or directly-connected, gas turbines as a means of primary power for data centers, CCAN advocates for an all-out ban on such on-site gas generation. 

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.