Massachusetts could give heat pump owners a huge discount on electricity
Massachusetts regulators are considering a plan to make heat pumps an obvious financial choice for most residents.
The state Department of Public Utilities is mulling a proposal to heavily discount electricity rates in the winter months for households with heat pumps, a move that could cut energy bills for more than 80% of residents who switch over to the efficient, electric appliance from fossil-fueled or electric resistance heating. For many of those households, the savings would amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars each winter.
Supporters of seasonal heat pump rates stress that the lower prices do not mean that heat pump users are being subsidized by everyone else. In fact, they say, the proposed rate structure is far more fair than the status quo.
“This is not a handout to heat pump owners,” said Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation for clean-energy nonprofit Acadia Center. “This is a fundamental issue of fairness.”
Here’s why: The delivery portion of an electricity bill pays for the construction and upkeep of the poles, wires, and other infrastructure needed to get power where it’s going. To determine how much to charge customers — and this is a bit of a simplification — the utility divides the total cost by the number of kilowatt-hours it expects customers to use. That number becomes the delivery rate.
To read the article from Canary Media, click here.
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