Charging Headlong into Electrification

Is Your State Planning to Legislate You Out of Business

States are rapidly passing “clean energy” regulations that point to converting commercial and residential properties to heat pumps, as well as increasing the sale of electric vehicles. Theoretically, these plans also include strategies to increase “renewable” electric generation and expand the electric distribution network.

It is important that everyone working in our industry be aware of the threats. While the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included tax credits for new Bioheat® fuel compatible, high-efficiency liquid heating equipment, those credits are a fraction of the monies available for those homeowners who choose to convert to electric heating. Many states in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions have enacted similar unequal measures. While they may acknowledge renewable liquid fuels as a resource, the end goal is to convert existing systems to heat pumps. Some, like New York’s recent Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, follow Quebec’s lead by banning the use of oil or gas heating in new construction, which expands to include banning the replacement or repair of existing equipment.

(This list excludes city and local regulations. We recommend reviewing the information provided by your state energy association for regional mandates.)

Connecticut

• Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) 2022; Taking Action on Climate Change, 2019; Public Act No 21-181, 2021
• GHG Reduction: 45% by 2030, 80% by 2050
• Bioheat® Fuel: B5 (current), B10 by 2025, B15 by 2030, B20 by 2034, B50 by 2035
• CES, under Executive Order 21-3:
  • Provide for more affordable heating and cooling for Connecticut residents and businesses
  • Achieve reductions in GHG emissions from residential buildings and industrial facilities as needed to meet GHG reduction targets for 2030 and 2050
  • Improve the resilience of the state's energy sector to extreme weather events, fuel commodity price spikes, and other disruptions.
• Building Electrification Plan Recommendations:
  • Develop a strategic plan for transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable thermal technology
  • Develop sustainable funding mechanisms to incentivize replacement of fossil fuel space and water heating with efficient renewable thermal technologies (RTT).
  • Require delivered-fuels companies to contribute to the Energy Efficiency Fund.
  • Incentivize installation of renewable thermal technologies in new construction.

Maine

• Maine Climate Action Plan, 2019
• GHG Reduction: 45% by 2030, 80% by 2050, net-zero carbon by 2045
• Biofuels: recognizes "fuelwood, pellets and wood chips" as well as biodiesel and ethanol
  • Increase local biofuel and biodiesel production for use in transportation sector
• Building Electrification Plan Recommendations:
  • 100,000 new heat pump installations by 2025
  • 130,000 using one-to-two heat pumps; 115,000 using a "whole home" heat pump system by 2030
  • Install 15,000 heat pumps in income-eligible households by 2025
  • Develop "energy efficient building codes" to reach net-zero
• Electric Vehicle rebates up to $8,000

Maryland

• Climate Solutions Now Act, 2022; 2030 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, 2021
• GHG Reduction: 40%-50% by 2030, net-zero emissions by 2045
• Building Electrification Plan Recommendations:
  • Convert fossil fuel heating systems to electric heat pumps
  • Deploy new and emerging zero-emissions technologies
  • Zero-carbon and renewable liquid and gaseous fuels for combustion uses that cannot be electrified
  • Prioritize energy efficiency

Massachusetts

• Commission on Clean Heat, November 30, 2022
• GHG Reduction: 28% reduction by 2025, 47% by 2030, net-zero GHG by 2050
• BioheatBioheat® Fuel: 2008 biofuels mandate never reinstated
• Building Electrification Plan Recommendations:
  • 95% electric heating by 2035
  • 500,000 residential homes and 300 million square feet of commercial properties using electric heat by 2030
    • 20,000-25,000 heat pump installations per year before 2025
    • 80,000 a year 2025-2030
    • 100,000 a year after 2030
  • "[S]ignificant reversal in the portion of heating equipment sales allocated to fossil fuel space heating versus energy-efficient electric space heating"

New Hampshire

• Consumer Choice Legislation, 2021
  • State and local governments cannot make rules that restrict the ability of a person or business to select they energy product they want to use

New Jersey

• Global Warming Response Act 80x50 Report, 2020
• GHG Reduction: 20% by 2020, 80% by 2050
• Building Electrification Plan Recommendations:
  • 90% of buildings converted to "100% clean energy systems"
  • Develop a Buildings Electrification Roadmap to achieve widespread electrification.
  • Prioritize near-term conversion of buildings relying on propane and heating oil.
  • Consider legislation governing all new construction and upgrades to facilitate the transition to a decarbonized building sector.
  • Mandate energy audits in state buildings and encourage/incentivize energy audits in county and municipal buildings.

New York

• New York Climate Action Council Scoping Plan, December 2022
• GHG Reduction: 40% reduction by 2030, 85% by 2050; 100% electric generation from renewables by 2040
• BioheatBioheat® Fuel: Statewide B5 in 2022 (Enforcement Waiver in effect until July 1, 2023), B10 in 2025, B20 by 2030
  • Already implemented in New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester
• Building Electrification Plan (pending legislation):
  • Cap and Invest Program, January 2023
    • DEC and NYSERDA to design program setting annual cap on the amount of pollution permitted
    • Annual reductions in the emissions cap
    • "Large-scale greenhouse gas emitters and distributors of heating and transportation fuels will be required to purchase allowances for the emissions associated with their activities."
  • One-to-two million homes, 10%-20% of commercial space using heat pumps by 2030
    • 250,000 of homes and "thousands more" buildings becoming electrified each year from 2030 onward
    • 85% of homes and commercial buildings electrified by 2050 using heat pump technologies and thermal energy networks
  • Transition to heat pumps when existing equipment (liquid fuels/natural gas) needs to be replaced after 2030
  • Zero-emission building codes (no fossil fuels) for low-rise residential new construction beginning 2025; 2028 for commercial construction

Pennsylvania

• Climate Action Plan, 2021
• GHG Reduction: 26% by 2025, 80% by 2050
• Building Electrification Plan:
  • Support energy efficiency through building codes
  • Improve residential and commercial energy efficiency (electricity)
  • Improve residential and commercial energy efficiency (gas)
  • Incentivize building electrification
  • Introduce state appliance efficiency standards
  • Increase distributed on-site solar
  • Promote and advance C-PACE financing and other tools for Net Zero Buildings and high-performance buildings

Rhode Island

• Act on Climate, 2021
• GHG Reduction: 45% by 2030, 80% by 2040, net-zero carbon by 2050
• Bioheat: B5 (current), B10 by 2023, B20 by 2025, B50 by 2030
• Building Electrification Plan:
  • 15% conversion from fossil fuels to electric heating by 2030

Vermont

• Clean Heat Standard, passed in 2022, vetoed by Governor
• GHG Reduction: 25% by 2025, 40% by 2030, 80% by 2050
• Building Electrification Plan:
  • Clean Heat Credits
  • Registration of all fuel dealers
  • Transition from "carbon-intensive building heating practices"

Virginia and New Hampshire currently do not have regulations or plans promoting building electrification.

Beyond the East Coast

California

• California Air Resource Board (CARB), 2018; 100 Percent Clean Energy Act, 2022
  • GHG Reduction (by Electric Utilities) 90% renewable energy by 2035, 95% by 2040; 100% zero-carbon energy supply by 2045
• Does not include home heating targets

Colorado

• GHG Pollution Reduction Roadmap 2021, Climate Action Plan to Reduce Pollution, 2019
• GHG Reductions: 46% by 2025, 50% by 2030, 90% by 2050
• Plan:
  • Continue swift transition away from coal to renewable electricity
  • Make deep reductions in methane pollution from oil and gas development
  • Accelerate the shift to electric cars, trucks and buses
  • Make changes to transportation planning and investment and land use planning to encourage alternatives to driving
  • Increase building efficiency and electrification
  • Reduce methane waste from landfills, waste water and other sources

Oregon

• Clean Energy Targets, 2022; Executive Order 20-04, 20-04
• GHG Reductions (by Electric Utilities): 80% by 2030, 90% by 2035, 100% by 2040
  • Building Energy Codes under development
• Does not include home heating targets

Washington

• Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA)
• GHG Reductions (by Electric Utilities): 80% by 2030, 90% by 2035, 100% by 2040
  • Phase out coal-fired electricity from state portfolios by 2025
  • State portfolios must be GHG neutral by 2030
  • 100% renewable electricity or non-emitting by 2045, no offsets
• Does not include home heating targets

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