Report: Adopting heat pumps in Mass. is an issue of fairness

SPRINGFIELD — There’s a way for Massachusetts residents to reduce the costs of electricity while the state works to achieve its climate goals: widespread adoption of air-source heat pumps.

 That’s according to a new report from Switchbox, a New York climate policy think tank.

The fund was one of a few organizations that commissioned Switchbox’s report. The others include Green Energy Consumers Alliance in Boston; Acadia Center in Hartford, Connecticut; ZeroCarbonMA, a statewide coalition; and Rewiring America, a national group.

“They actually aren’t incurring any more stress upon the grid or the system than than their non-heat pump counterparts,” said Kyle Murray, state program implementation director at Acadia Center in Connecticut. Despite this, heat pump customers are charged more than double for the delivery of electricity, the report said.

Murray, of Acadia Center, said ratepayers should only be charged for the amount of energy they incur.

“This is a fundamental issue of fairness at the end of the day,” he said.

To read the full article from Mass Live, click here.