Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources Announces $35 Million in New Incentives to Support Installation of Household Heat Pump Systems
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) announced today $35 million in funding to support the state’s ongoing heat pump system investments with households across the state through the New England Heat Pump Accelerator (the Accelerator), a collaborative initiative to grow the region’s heat pump adoption to 90% of residential space heating and cooling and water-heating sales by 2040. The Accelerator will provide pass-through incentives available at heat pump distributors to reduce heat pump system costs for households. The program is supported by federal funding. The Accelerator’s efforts build upon OER’s active Clean Heat Rhode Island program. To date, the Clean Heat Rhode Island program has supported over 4,900 heat pump installations.
The program aims to be a complementary, not competing, market force to existing state energy efficiency efforts, focused on speeding up adoption for cold climate heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and ground-source heat pumps—technologies that can lower families’ energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year. Equipment incentives range from $300 per unit for heat pump water heaters to $650 per unit for air-source heat pump systems. These incentives can be combined with savings offered by the Clean Heat Rhode Island program, and more equipment will become eligible for incentives later this year. The pass-through incentives are provided directly to distributors, so heat pump contractors save instantly at the point of purchase.
Contractors then pass those savings through to customers to lower the upfront costs immediately for households. Homeowners and renters making energy-efficient upgrades to their homes do not need to apply for new incentives to benefit from the program.
“The New England Heat Pump Accelerator will lower upfront costs for homeowners and build on the progress we’ve already made through Clean Heat Rhode Island,” said Governor Dan McKee. “This practical, results-driven program will help Rhode Islanders looking to update their household energy systems by keeping more money in their pockets while reducing their energy usage.”
“Working alongside our other state partners and their respective heat pump program efforts in New England, we’re building on what Rhode Island has already established through Clean Heat Rhode Island by adding these new heat pump incentives for installing additional heat pumps across the state,” said Acting Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources Commissioner Chris Kearns. “Rhode Island’s focus within the Accelerator is to reach consumers with the greatest savings potential and remove the barriers that have kept efficient heating out of reach. The pass-through incentive model is especially important because it eliminates the upfront cost hurdle for households and simplifies the process for qualified heat pump contractors.”
For details on how to access the pass-through heat pump incentives for heat pump distributors and contractors, please visit the following link: Pass-Through Incentives | New England Heat Pump Accelerator
About the Accelerator
The New England Heat Pump Accelerator works with distributors, contractors, policymakers, program administrators, and community organizations to bring efficient, affordable heating and cooling to the region. Through December 2029, the program will expand heat pump adoption in homes across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island through market growth, local innovation, and educational resources.
This program is collaboratively led by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, the Maine Department of Energy Resources with the Efficiency Maine Trust, and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Program administration is led by VEIC in coordination with an experienced multistate team of implementers. For more information, visit www.NEHPA.org.
